Welcome to our special Easter blog! Next up in our series of special shape blogs is the Cadbury's Caramel Bunny, one of the most loved UK hot air balloons during the 1990s! 

Read about the design and build at Cameron Balloons, flying alongside Rupert Bear at Southampton, a charity Red Nose Day tether at Hyde Park and much more. Written by Creative Director of Virgin Airship & Balloon Company at the time, Mark Lockwood. Including original hand-drawn visuals from 1992! 

Next up in our series of special shape blogs is the Philips light bulb built in 1995! Mark Lockwood, Creative Director at Virgin Airship & Balloon Company during the 90s, tells us about the complex lighting process of the 149ft tall special shape and standard add-on 90, unveiling to the Philips team in London, an impressive tether outside St Paul's Cathedral and flying from the Southampton Balloon Festival.

Welcome to the second part of our Midlands Air Festival special shape blogs for 2021. Find the latest weird and wonderful hot air balloons to be attending this year's festival at Ragley Hall below. Follow us and the official Midlands Air Festival account for special shape reveals on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

Yes, really, we have good news! Hot air ballooning will resume very shortly in England for both private and commercial balloons. Here's a summary of the latest government plan for the return of ballooning and the 3 main stages, the dates of which will already be familiar to you.

We are back with another special shape blog - this time all about the Tesco Trolley balloon built in 1998! Creative Director of Virgin Airship & Balloon Company at the time, Mark Lockwood, tells us about digital printing of artwork, the spectacular private launch of the balloon alongside additional 90 envelope, a memorable trip to the 'Balloons across the Mersey' meet and much more...

This blog also features never before seen photos of the balloon's launch at the Cardington hangars!​

The spectacular Midlands Air Festival will return in 2021 to its original location of Ragley Hall in Warwickshire on 4th - 6th June 2021. 

​The ticketed event, now the largest display of special shape hot air balloons in Europe, will feature more than 40 of these in 2021 alongside over 100 round balloons. Past special shapes to attend have included Bertie Bassett, Rupert Bear, the Scottish Piper and Superbike! See below for the 2021 confirmed list so far…

Formed in July 2017, the Bristol Balloon Collectors save and preserve old hot air balloons from being destroyed or thrown away, inflating them for even more people to enjoy. Growing up in Bristol regularly visiting the famous balloon fiesta, brothers Liam and Dan, who run the collection, have a real passion for what they do. 

It was announced in July that a special flight over Bristol would be taking place that month, called Sky Orchestra. 7 balloons would play out music while flying above the city, waking up people to a soundtrack commissioned by Bristol Old Vic and members of Massive Attack and Portishead. Despite a number of good opportunities during mid-July, the flight was delayed. 

On Friday 7th August, a night glow of 12 hot air balloons took place in Henbury. Organised by local balloonists Craig and Mandy Thompson, they invited all their pilot friends to come along, enjoy the barbecue and glow their balloons at dusk. Friends watching were in ‘bubble groups’ and it took much longer to organise than it usually would due to social distancing guidelines.