Former creative director at Virgin Airship & Balloon Company, Mark Lockwood, tells us about the fleet of Virgin aeroplane special shapes operated in the 1980s and 90s. Many iconic tethers and flights were arranged to promote Virgin Atlantic; inflating near the famous Hollywood sign, night glowing beside the Queen Mary, and flying from Wadi Rum desert in Jordan to name a few. They were even regulars at home in Bristol!

We were delighted to speak to BBC Bristol live on radio from the Bristol Balloon Fiesta site on Friday 12th August. They have also filmed some footage of our popular special shape balloons and put a short video together about why we're doing what we're doing and how it started.

Read our 2022 Bristol International Balloon Fiesta review and summary, looking back on a spectacular 4 days of hot air ballooning at Ashton Court Estate. See what is was like from our team's point of view attending for the first time with a fleet of special shape balloons.

August is here again and that can only mean one thing in Bristol: BALLOONS!!

After a long 3 years away, the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta returns to Ashton Court from Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th August 2022 for 4 days of mass balloon launches, night glows and family fun.

A very short blog post, more like a page for reference, if you want to check the wind speeds yourself. View surface wind speeds below for Bristol.

Big news coming soon, watch this space! ​https://www.mjballooning.com/our-balloons

The spectacular aviation show, the Midlands Air Festival, returns to Ragley Hall in Alcester next week for 3 days of flying fun for all the family on the platinum jubilee weekend! Enjoy hot air balloon mass ascents with over 100 balloons taking to the Warwickshire skies in the morning and evening as well as tethered displays, nightfire and air displays including the RAF Red Arrows. 

Hi everyone. Well, we're back here again; the long, cold winter is done and dusted, and this year's hot air ballooning season is upon us. Here at MJ Ballooning, we wanted to do something a little different for 2022 and are pleased to announce our brand new Bristol & Bath Hot Air Balloon Guide.

​Happy Easter everyone! We are delighted to team up with Virgin Balloon Flights for a special Easter blog on some well-known shapes! How many of them have you seen?

We are very excited to reveal our latest special shape balloon, the orange! It joins our other special shapes Joycam Lips G-LIPS and Choc Dips G-DIPI. Registered G-CDXW, this Orange-120 was built by Cameron Balloons in 1993 and is in fantastic condition.