It features among the line-up of this year’s Bristol International Balloon Fiesta
A Hawker Hurricane(Image: Alamy/PA)
Bristol will see not one but two military flypasts in the skies above the city this weekend amid the line-up of one of Bristol’s biggest annual events. A Hawker Hurricane will carry out flypasts on Saturday, August 9, and Sunday, August 10, as part of the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
Flypasts will take place at 2.17pm on Saturday and 12pm on Sunday, with the exact Hurricane craft believed to either be the Hurricane Mk IIC LF363 or the Hurricane Mk IIC PZ865. Organisers say that the displays will be subject to aircraft serviceability and weather conditions on the day.
The aircraft’s special appearance is among this year’s line-up for the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, which takes place from Friday August 8 for three days, at Ashton Court Estate. In addition to these exciting flypasts, Fiesta organisers have also launched a number of new features for this year’s events.
These include the ‘In The Clouds’ experience, which allows festivalgoers to step inside the envelope of a real life hot air balloon. The immersive attraction will be open throughout the weekend of the Fiesta, and features an immersive soundscape and film all about Bristol’s rich heritage and connection to the world of hot air ballooning.
The second new attraction, ‘Flight Control’, comes in partnership with GWR and enables visitors to see where balloons land after taking off from the event’s launch field. Following each flight, a map will be populated with all of the landing locations of the balloons taking part in that mass ascent, so people can see just how far they travel.
You’ll be able to step inside the envelope of a hot air balloon this summer
Now in its 47th year, the three-day-event is still free to attend and will see (if weather permits) six mass ascents across the weekend, one at 6am and another at 6pm each day. Friday and Saturday night will also see the famed Night Glow events, where balloons inflate and glow to music in the arena.
What’s more, this year’s balloon line-up sees the ever popular special shape hot air balloons – like this massive 143ft dragon all the way from Indiana. Plus more classics – you can see the full list, here.
This year will see the return of the Meet The Pilot event, which began last year and sees balloon crews allow members of the public to come into the arena, jump in a basket, have a go on the burners, take photos, and learn all about the world of ballooning.
Meanwhile, when it comes to food and drink, Pasture will be returning with a pop-up restaurant on site for the second year running. Following its success, the popular Bristol restaurant will return to Ashton Court, this time with a further restaurant in the Sky Lounge VIP area, and also with a brand new BBQ service running throughout the day at their main pop-up onsite restaurant, under their new concept PRIME.
Read more about what to expect at this year’s Bristol International Balloon Fiesta in our handy guide here.
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