{"id":327884,"date":"2025-08-08T12:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T12:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327884\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T12:42:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T12:42:09","slug":"dozens-of-hot-air-balloons-take-to-the-skies-above-bristol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/327884\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of hot air balloons take to the skies above Bristol"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 huxBsk\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of hot air balloons of all shapes and sizes have filled the skies above <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/bristol\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bristol<\/a> for the city\u2019s annual fiesta.<\/p>\n<p>Around 90 balloons took part in a mass ascent at Ashton Court Estate, where the popular event takes place, on Friday morning.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of fans were up early to watch the opening ceremony of the free-to-attend Bristol International Balloon Fiesta justafter 6am, with balloon burners lighting up to mark the start of the event.<\/p>\n<p>One balloon then took to the sky with a union flag, followed by dozens of other brightly coloured balloons which flew over Bristol towards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/bath\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bath<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/somerset\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Somerset<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Commercial balloon pilot Tom Hilditch, 35, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/brighton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brighton<\/a>, was among the pilots to fly in the mass ascent and praised the \u201cidyllic conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cIt was great to fly with all the other balloons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were idyllic weather conditions, with nice slow winds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe winds were a little too variable when trying to find a landing spot but otherwise it was a perfect morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr Hilditch, who has had his pilot\u2019s licence for 13 years, is planning to cycle around England towing a hopper balloon \u2013 which does not have a basket \u2013 to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust next year.<\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s fiesta, running from Friday to Sunday, will celebrate Bristol and its heritage links to the world of hot air ballooning.<\/p>\n<p>The activity has been part of Bristol\u2019s culture for many years, with the first recorded flight in the city dating back to the 18th century.<\/p>\n<p>During the fiesta, balloons are scheduled to take off early morning and evening \u2013 though this is weather permitting.<\/p>\n<p>Special shape balloons will be present at the event, including the Up balloon, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/thomas-the-tank-engine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Thomas the Tank Engine<\/a>, Sonic the Hedgehog, Astro the Alien, Rupert the Bear and Oggy the Friendly Dragon \u2013 which comes from America.<\/p>\n<p>There is also a Wallace &amp; Gromit Moon Rocket balloon, Buster and Bella the Bulldogs, Slither the Snake, Snow White, an Ordnance Survey Map and BBC Globe.<\/p>\n<p>In the evenings, night-glows \u2013 where dozens of tethered balloons light up in sync to a special musical soundtrack \u2013 will take place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-327884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114993203988791370","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}