Up, up and away

Andrea Millicent drags Andy and the girls to the Bristol Balloon Fiesta – and the verdict is “awesome”.

As I stood silent watching the spine tingling spectacle unfold before me, at sunrise on a hill in Bristol listening to Pink Floyd, I thought what a great life I lead and how lucky I am. 86 hot air balloons rose into the sky and floated into the rising sun – an amazing moment to be treasured.  “Awesome” the girls gasped.

I’d nagged Jon and Sharon to let me cover Bristol Balloon Fiesta for Family Festivals and although it’s not the traditional kind of festival we normally review I’m so grateful that they trusted me enough to let me go.

As a little girl I remember watching hot air balloons flying over the beautiful city of Bath.  I vowed then that one day I would find the source of these balloons and now I have fulfilled another one of my dreams. 

The balloon fiesta is held in the pretty rolling hills of the Ashton Court estate just outside Bristol and is free to enter which makes for a cheap family day out – if you can avoid the extortionate prices of the funfair.  It lasts for 4 days and there are different attractions going on each day. Car park charges are £7 per day but there was plenty of parking outside the estate for £5 a day.

The press call was for 5.30am for a 6am mass balloon launch and although a little disappointed that we hadn’t managed to secure a balloon flight we arose from the camper at 4am to make the short mile walk to the fiesta.  Getting up at 4am at a festival is unheard of for us – we are often only just going to bed then.

After our early start we ventured round the site which is vast.  Although far too commercial for us we enjoyed plenty of free samples from all the trade stands. Ice lollies, chocolate, caramel vodka, rain ponchos, yoghurt drink and muesli bars, the list is endless. The girls thought it was great but felt quite sick. We also spotted a huge herd of deer which live on the estate and seemed quite oblivious to the fact that their space had been invaded.

By now we were being nagged to go to the fair so off we went to join the throng of thousands.  A great, very expensive, time was had by all.  Had our budget not been gobbled up at the fair we could have gone clay pigeon shooting, zorbing or had a go at archery.

We were running out of time and wanted to see the ‘unusual shapes tether’ so headed back to the main arena where ‘Churchie’ the Churchill Dog, a Monster, a Jaguar car, the Palletways Dragon and a massive motorbike filled the sky.

There was far too much to see and do in one day so we decided to return again tomorrow with our new 10 week old baby grandson who was visiting with our son and his fiancée.

We awoke during the night to the familiar sound of pitter, patter on the camper roof – it was raining buckets.  Normally the balloons would fly at 6am and 6pm for each of the 4 days, weather permitting, but there was no way they were going up this morning.  A good excuse to stay snuggled in bed.

By early evening, after a BBQ in the rain, (if you don’t do these things when planned just because it’s raining you’d never do anything in this country) we ventured back to the fiesta to watch the ‘night glow’. Another spectacular show where tethered balloons fire up their burners in the dark in time to music, followed by a firework display. 

Next day back at the fiesta we strolled around the arts and crafts marquee and explored the Activity Zone.  So much to do and so little time – EA Sports computer gaming hub, Heart FM chill out area, giant outdoor games, Mickey Mouse in his clubhouse campervan and of course the proverbial face painting.

My hips were telling me it was time to sit down so off I went with baby Jay to sit on the hill and watch the activities in the main arena.  The Army staged combat exercises including very load bangs which Jay slept through.  Then followed a helicopter and motorcycle display and a display of powered paragliding and parachutes.  Finally the world famous Red Arrows roared into the sky and gave a spectacular show before the final mass balloon ascent of the weekend.

Although before going to Bristol we’d said that we didn’t want to attend the fiesta every day, it was impossible to fit everything into just a couple of visits. We easily spent most of the weekend there and probably still didn’t manage to fit it all in.

If you are looking for an inexpensive family weekend away the Bristol Balloon Fiesta comes highly recommended.