Bristol International Balloon Fiesta 2017 - Review 

Bristol was ready for another four days of action-packed hot air ballooning as the 2017 Bristol Balloon Fiesta was becoming ever closer. Title sponsors Bristol Energy had a banner attached to Phoenix Balloons' solar balloon G-CIRX for the event. We enjoyed announcing the special shapes attending one each hour from 10am the day before, which got followers of MJ Ballooning on social media very excited for the event. 

Press Launch

The press launch was planned to take place from Lloyds Amphitheatre, but unfortunately there were no flyable opportunities on mornings leading up to the fiesta, so nothing took place. We heard of a possible afternoon tether happening one afternoon but this didn’t happen because it was arranged at too short notice for press. 

Thursday Afternoon

The weather looked superb for the special shapes launch on Thursday, albeit Met Office forecasting some fairly strong gusts, but all other sites were forecasting light winds, so we were very hopeful. We made our way into the balloonist marquee and arena after buying a programme and got ready to watch the tethering. We ended up helping the Ballooningmedia team with their Lindstrand envelope sponsored by Southern Plasticlad. There were many balloons led out and ready to go, including Prison Stuart, Ricoh, Simbaloo and Belvoir. Exclusive Ballooning's Longleat special shape was inflated first, but the pilot struggled to keep it up in the gusts whipping through Ashton Court and had to be pulled down. ​

​This didn't stop others from trying though, and eventually everyone managed to successfully hot inflate, making it a large tether and a great start to the fiesta. First Flight's new Thatchers cider Z-105 made its debut at this years fiesta and it had not flown over the city before the even. They flew it alongside another of their fleet on 25th July for the maiden flight. We were on the mouth of the balloon for the inflation of Southern Plasticlad and in the basket for most of the tether! The tether lasted for around 45 minutes before crews pulled the envelopes down, but BWS Standfast, which was also making its first fiesta appearance, had only just began inflating. Pilots we spoke to still seemed hopeful for the evening ascent with the hope that the wind would drop out. From days before looking at different weather sites including Met Office, Windfinder and XCWeather, the Thursday PM ascent seemed like the best opportunity to fly with light winds. Ballooningmedia were planning to fly their light bulb and seemed very optimistic. However, it didn't quite go to plan...

Thursday Special Shape Rodeo

As the afternoon went on it became apparent to everyone that the wind was not as light as expected and could cause problems regarding the evening launch. Once we collected our crew wristbands we went straight back to Ashton Court to see the rest of the days events unfold, but sudden gusts kept whipping through the arena. At 6pm as usual it was time for the pilot briefing in the marquee, but only for special shape, ride and sponsor balloon pilot. The BIBF flying committee, which consists of many people, but mainly Clive Bailey (flight director) of Bailey Balloons, Ian Martin (landowner relations) of Flying Enterprises and Phil Dunnington (air traffic), delivered their briefing to a small gathering of pilots in a corner of the marquee. Using the latest forecast wind speeds from the Met Office they explained to pilots what they planned to do. This was kept very much just among them. 

Exclusive Ballooning inflated Keltbray and Renishaw for the thousands in attendance outside the arena, but it was very windy. Bailey Balloons' brand new Belvoir Fruit Farms special shape was inflated too, but the winds proved too strong for the pilot and crew so shortly after was pulled down. An announcement was made to the crowd that they were hopeful the winds would drop out later on to enable some pilots to take off. The winds would almost certainly be too strong for any special shapes to fly. With the westerly direction forecast to take the balloons straight over the city, everyone led their envelopes out on the launch field, including 2.0 Movie and 'Lindy' teams, and then the wait began for the gusts to drop. ​

Whilst everyone was preparing for the possibility of a flight, the Ricoh cube and Longleat lion special shapes were inflated for everyone alongside the Stowells wine box operated by Flying Enterprises. G-STOW had its CofA this evening before it was inflated and easily passed. Although it was built in 1998, it's in excellent condition and they were even hoping to fly it on the Thursday. Eventually the launch was cancelled using the smoke system, which showed red smoke, which should have been amber as there was tethering. The hugely popular Prison Stuart shape tethered too and was nearly blown over onto the crowds several times, but was quite entertaining to watch. The G-SATL 'Lima' team gave inflating a try, but it proved impossible with the strong sea breeze. This was certainly not the start we and everybody else was hoping for after the perfect-looking weather forecast before the launch. Met Office predicted it perfectly though, as they were showing 10-20kts consistently in the run up. 

​Despite the slightly disappointing start, the night glow was still going ahead in the tricky conditions. 

Thursday Night Glow

We helped the SM Gauge team set up for the glow, and what a brilliant glow it was! The new 'fuel your energy' envelope operated by Bailey Balloons was included, plus Lindstrand Tech, G-GOAL, Sky Monkeys and other regulars. 

Friday Morning

The next morning we headed back to Ashton Court, leaving at 4:35am, for the first mass ascent. In the very chilly conditions we helped our good friend James, who is pilot of Ultramagic balloon G-JEMS, lay out the envelope and set up the basket for the flight. The conditions were fairly good with calm winds up until 2000ft where it was forecast to pick up, but this wasn't a problem because the limit for balloons to fly across the city is 1000ft. There was cloud at around 2000ft too, which put off some pilots from flying but it didn't affect the flight at all. 

The first to take to the skies of Bristol for the 2017 fiesta was First Flight's Tribute Ale passenger balloon, who were closely followed by Belvoir, Thatchers, Brian Currie, F&M and the Minion. Conditions at low level were perfect and calm as expected. Meanwhile we were on the mouth of G-JEMS and it was ready to be hot inflated. Once it was stood up we jumped in and were ready for our first flight from the famous Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, just days after our first flight from Ashton Court! 

As Lindstrand Technologies' 'Lindy' special shape passed overhead alongside G-BRMU, Tango and Red Box we waited for the right time to take off. Because the fiesta launch site is very busy and congested during mass launches like this one it's very important to get a crew member to check if it's safe to fly and ensure nobody is above. Once we got the thumbs up we were good to go, and our magical flight with 100 other balloons across Bristol began.

After years of following and attending the fiesta, to be in the basket from a mass ascent was a very special experience. Here are a selection of our best photos from the flight, but all can be viewed in the gallery section. 

After around 50mins of flying at 1000-1250ft we had nearly cleared the city and landing opportunities were becoming more frequent. We landed in a field next to Kings Oak school in Kingswood with G-CCGY and Tango, but decided to hop over the fence into the next field where about 10 balloons had come down in case there was no easy access for the retrieve vehicle. As more balloons came into land, including the BWS Standfast hopper, G-OBUY and Renishaw, the retrieve easily found us and we began packing the envelope away. Many locals were out and about admiring the spectacular sight. Then we headed back to Ashton Court just as the BBM&L inflated their Mr Peanut special shape. 

Friday Evening

Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worse for the evening flight and the decision was made to cancel at 4pm. But the drizzle didn't stop SM Gauge, Exclusive Ballooning, Lindstrand Media, Flying Enterprises and Lighter Than Air from tethering for nearly an hour. It wasn't looking too great in the morning either with the possibility of low cloud and of course the rain had already made the ground quite damp, with more expected overnight. 

Saturday Morning

Despite the disappointment of the evening slot, hopes remained high for both Saturday and Sunday, as the weather forecast was looking fairly promising. The rain on Friday evening meant the grounds of Ashton Court became increasingly tricky, especially near the entrance to the launch field. We left the site to have a bit of a rest before returning to see what Saturday brought, which seemed to be the more unlikely launch of the remaining four. In the briefing it was said that the flight would be going ahead, but not a full mass ascent due to the upper wind strength. 

Virgin Balloon Flights' Bristol and Bath pilot, Mark, known to everyone as 'Nobby', was keen to get going and was soon hot inflating the A-400 envelope. This is the largest round balloon you'll see at the fiesta. Then a few started to take off, firstly Thatchers, followed by Fortnum & Mason, Virgin, Simbaloo, and JLL. Of course the ground conditions and weather weren't ideal, but it was certainly flyable, although the low cloud looked to be becoming more of a problem as time went on. 

As Bailey Balloons' Belvoir Fruit Farms special shape took to the grey skies and big passenger rides balloons were getting ready, the second siren went off. All confirmed launches start with a siren for 60 seconds, meaning that pilots are good to take off. However, if the siren sounds for a second time all balloons are grounded. Sadly the low cloud was reportedly under the legal limit of 1000ft from balloonists radioing in to the flying committee. Therefore the launch had to be cancelled otherwise flying would be illegal, and as always with the fiesta, safety must come first. But when walking up to Ashton Court avoiding stepping in the puddles, we wondered if anything would happen at all, so it was a good result. The forecast for the rest of the day was for all this cloud to clear and brighten up later on in time for the 6pm ascent, although looking a little brisk. Once the remaining balloons were pulled down and packed away by the crew, the new 2.0 balloon, built by Cameron Balloons USA and piloted by Frank Wechter, tethered alongside Exclusive Ballooning's Keltbray. 2.0 was brought to Bristol to advertise a new Indian Bollywood film and was launched just below the famous Hollywood sign. 

Saturday Evening

As the clouds broke up and sun shined bright over Bristol, thousands of people made their way to watch some Saturday afternoon ballooning. But obviously, sun doesn't equal good flying conditions, which people would have discovered on this evening! Unfortunately it was very breezy on the surface so the launch was cancelled at the 6pm briefing by flight director Clive Bailey. This was peak time at the fiesta for crowd numbers, so a few commercial teams inflated their balloons for some advertising and to keep people entertained. Even in the sheltered part of the arena they were bashing around, although this did calm down by 7:30pm. 

Saturday Night Glow

The night glow was a success with Belvoir, 2.0 and Longleat's Simbaloo among the twenty balloons taking part. 

Sunday Morning

The forecast was looking very promising for both launches to go ahead on Sunday and many pilots took advantage of the light winds on Sunday morning. We were on retrieve for G-JEMS - it landed on North Somerset Showground with many others including Ricoh and Stuart the Minion. Meanwhile, back in the arena, the BBM&L tethered their Maxwell house coffee jar special shape, registered G-BVBJ. Brand new Cameron superlight hopper was inflated alongside Chelsea finance, BWS Standfast and the old Sainsbury's flying circus LBL 31A. 

Sunday Afternoon

Conditions were looking very promising for the evening launch, but the winds were very light to get across the city. The official fiesta posted on their social media platforms that great new special shape 'The Queen's Guardsman' may be appearing in the evening if they reached enough shares and likes. As the crowds grew in anticipation for the mass ascent, Exclusive Ballooning tethered Ricoh and Simbaloo with Bailey Balloons and Lighter Than Air's Teenage Cancer Trust Z-105. 

Sunday Evening

The launch was confirmed and although winds were lighter than ideal, there was enough to clear the city. We were getting ready to fly in G-JEMS once more as ABC and others were preparing to fly their special shapes. The Queen's Guardsman, registered G-POMP and now known as Busby, was inflated after its trip to Taiwan. Busby only flew for around five minutes and came into land in the deer park by festival way.

We couldn't believe the views once we became airborne - it was an amazing moment taking off with the thousands of people watching below. The winds were very light and as we were drifting over the Clifton suspension bridge we were travelling at only 2kts, which was slightly scary. By decreasing in height to around 1000ft along with all the other teams we had a steady 8kts for the rest of the flight and even had a drag landing. 

Ballooningmedia made their only appearance with the L.E Electrical light bulb of 2017, which was built in 2000. It was a great way to finish a superb four days of ballooning. After an hour's flight we landed at Frenchay cricket club with Thatchers. 

Thank you to Ballooning Pictures for providing photos of Mr Peanut and Maxwell House.

Read more from MJ Ballooning

​If you would like to read more of our fiesta reviews from 2004 to 2020, click here. 

Balloons at the 2017 Fiesta

SM Gauge G-GAGE

Thatchers G-CKEG

Prison Stuart G-DMES

Bristol Energy G-CIRX

Ricoh Cube G-RCOH

Fortnum & Mason
​G-FMGB

Longleat Lion G-LEAT

Belvoir Fruit Farms
​G-CKFI

Dribuild G-CHXS

​Southern Placticlad
​G-CJIH

JLL G-CIGI

BWS Standfast G-CJRO

Keltbray G-KLTB

Renishaw G-RENI

Stowells Wine Box
​G-STOW

G-BYHU

BUHABS G-CJXJ

Kewtech G-OKEW

Penny G-CFEK

Snow Business G-SBIZ

Benfield G-GOAL

Sky Monkeys G-OCTS

Lindstrand Demo G-OPER

Robert Hitchins G-CFEB

Fishtank G-CDDN

Taittinger G-CEKS

#FuelyourFun G-VGFS

Cameron Balloons
​G-CDJX

CJ Hole G-CIHO

Discover Waterford
​EI-ECC

Miles Architectural G-MILE

Tribute G-CIZM

Brian Currie G-ODAF

Cameron Balloons
​G-CGVV

Sint Niklaas OO-BSN

David Hathaway G-BZFD

TVE Group G-CKKK

Pattersons G-CIHC

G-CDGN

Datum RPO G-DRPO

Badkap D-OKAP

Snap Surveys G-CCTS

Virgin G-VBAO

G-CGVY

Bailey Balloons G-CJXI

Red Letter Days G-PRZI

Red Letter Days G-RLDZ

Above + Beyond G-CIHG

G-LOWS

G-BRMU

Red Box G-CDYL

Park Furnishers G-CFCC

Trescal PH-TRE

G-JEMS

G-HPCB

G-CHHL

Omega G-OMGR

Tango G-BUEI

G-BUSV

G-CKMH

Lindstrand Demo G-CJVH

Lindy N

Cash4Cars G-IBCF

Purple Rain G-PURP

CFS G-CDZO

Cathay Pacific G-CXCX

G-SATL

Choco Choco OO-BNT

G-BSEA

Royal Navy G-OFAA

Anana G-TOPB

Fastrat G-OSAT

G-CBVD

Novia G-NFVB

G-OWLY

G-CFXP

Dessol OO-BXJ

Torex G-CBOW

Team GB G-GOGB

Cameron Balloons
​G-CCGY

G-BZYY

G-WADZ

G-BLVA

G-LENN

Bristol & West G-CBNW

David Hathaway G-CHFM

Hardys G-HRDY

G-CELM

Raffaelo G-RFLO

JoinerySoft G-OJMS

Bristol Blue G-UWEB

Polar Bear Windows
​G-OPBW

G-BSIC

G-SJKR

Cameron Balloons
​G-BZKU

G-CBWK

G-SUAU

G-SFSL

Unison G-CCXF

BWS Standfast G-CJRK

G-BVEN

Bristol Balloons G-CGZR

G-STAV

Bath Building Society
​G-CERC

G-HBEE

Sun Rise G-BSNU

G-AVTL

2.0 Movie N

G-JULU

G-OBUY

G-CCYU

Mr Peanut G-NUTS

G-BECS

Teenage Cancer Trust
​G-OTCT

Bluebell G-CJLT

G-JHAA

Cameron Balloons
​G-CIKC

Complete G-CEJZ

G-OJEN

G-CKSW

G-CJWY

Wind Beneath My Wings 
​G-BXXG

Budget Travel G-MOSY

Chelsea hopper G-CKBJ

Flying Circus G-ONCB

G-BYNN

Maxwell House Coffee Jar G-BVBJ

CND G-OCND

Busby G-POMP

L.E Electrical Light Bulb
​G-LAMP

Cameron Balloons G-CJOI

Cameron Balloons G-CIUK

All photos Copyright MJ Ballooning except the following:
​G-NUTS, G-CJWY, G-CKBJ, G-BVBJ - Courtesy & Copyright Ballooning Pictures UK