History of the Bristol Balloon Fiesta

Have you ever been to the Bristol Balloon Fiesta or seen a hot air balloon fly past your house and think, why in Bristol and how did it start? Read below to find out a little about why the fiesta started and why Bristol is internationally recognised for hot air ballooning.

​Don Cameron came to Bristol in the 1960s to join the Bristol Aeroplane Company and would often partake in his hobby of gliding, attending a local gliding club in spare time. One member of the gliding club got their hands on a magazine about the new type of ballooning that had just been invented in America. After many discussions, in the bar one night seven club members (Mark Westwood, Bill Malpas, Giles Bulmer. Charles Meizl, Malcolm Brighton, Tom Sage and Don) decided to build a balloon of their own, which would become Western Europe’s first modern hot air balloon. Eventually they created the balloon themselves, named the Bristol Belle registered G-AVTL, with the first flight taking place in 1967 from Weston-on-the-Green in Oxfordshire. The first ever untethered hot air balloon flight was performed in November 1783 in Paris, France in a balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers.

​All of them learnt to fly in the Bristol Belle, kick-starting Don Cameron’s passion for hot air ballooning, which in 1971 led to Don resigning from his ‘proper’ job and founding Cameron Balloons Ltd. This followed two years of running Omega Balloons who built 10 in total. 29 were built in the first year by Cameron Balloons in the basement of a property in Bristol.

​At the pub one evening in 1978 after a talk by Don Cameron about his balloon adventures around the world, the idea about Bristol having its very own balloon meet was discussed. This is how it all started. The following year in 1979 the first Bristol Balloon Fiesta took place at Ashton Court Estate from 7-9 September with teams travelling from across Europe to attend. Good weather allowed for over 100 flights over the 3 days making the meet a great success. Ashton Court was and still is the perfect location, despite nearby Bristol Airport, with beautiful grounds surrounding the mansion house and can cope with large numbers of people. In flying terms it’s far from ideal with Avonmouth nearby too, but with a prevailing westerly wind flights don’t get much better with views of Brunel’s famous Suspension Bridge.

​Cameron Balloons moved into their well-known factory in Bedminster and the fiesta continued to grow and gain more attention from the city and press. The first special shape ever created was the Golliwog built to advertise Robertsons jam. More soon followed including Mr Peanut, George the Hoffmeister bear, Beethoven and the Harley Davidson motorbike, which were early fiesta favourites in the 1980s. Of course, not all of them appeared at the fiesta - some were only test inflated before being shipped to another country. Due to the amount of people coming to watch each year, the site was moved over the other side of the trees from the bowl. The balloonist arena was introduced so people could no longer wander in-between baskets before take off too.

Mr Peanut 2 amongst round balloons in 1981

Flight at the 5th fiesta in 1983

Heller shapes and others flying in 1988

​As the popularity of the fiesta continued, so did the special shape character balloons. Rupert Bear, Sonic the Hedgehog, Scottish Piper, Caramel Bunny and Bertie Bassett were particular favourites throughout the 1990s, with 1997-1999 being stand-out years for shapes. Unipart were main sponsors during the 1990s with a fleet of balloons operated by Flying Pictures who flew most of the well-known balloons at the time. Cameron Balloons developed technology which allowed them to digitally design all their balloons on computer, very helpful when trying to design a giant Scotsman! All of these were test inflated at Ashton Court early in the morning, or sometimes afternoons depending on the time of year, and used to be flown on test.

1990s favourite Rupert Bear with Sonic and Caramel Bunny

Action Man taking flight in 1997

Mass launch in 1998

​As with all outdoor events they are at the mercy of the weather. The Bristol Balloon Fiesta has always been very lucky weather-wise, which has always allowed at least one ascent to go ahead. The best years after the 90s are regarded as 2003, 2004, 2009 and the magical fiesta of 2015 which saw a record 7/7 launches go ahead. The fiesta had an incredible run of weather from 2012 until 2015 with 4 consecutive successful special shape launches. You can discover more in detail by checking out MJ Ballooning’s fiesta review section.

2004 with the Chubb Fire Extinguisher

Saturday mass ascent in 2009

The record-breaking 2015 fiesta

​The Bristol Balloon Fiesta is now internationally recognised as one of the world’s leading hot air balloon festivals as it reached its peak in the 1990s early 2000s. It attracts over 500,000 visitors with the event held on the second weekend of August from Thursday to Sunday. 2018 saw the Bristol Balloon Fiesta celebrate its 40th anniversary with the return of some of those loveable old special shapes plus the USA’s Wish Cake envelope. Mass ascents happen at 6am and 6pm from Friday to Sunday with Thursday’s evening launch known as the special shapes rodeo. Night glows are very popular where around 30 balloons light up to music as darkness falls, taking place on Thursday and Saturday night. Glows were held on the Durdham Downs years ago, which some of you may remember.

40th anniversary mass ascent

Night Glow with Cameron Balloons demonstrator

Piper and Wish Cake special shapes in 2018

​Cameron Balloons is the largest and leading manufacturer of hot air balloons in the world with a huge majority of special shapes coming out of that very factory. We are very lucky to have seen many at Ashton Court over the years. The balloon that is to blame for all this hot air madness, the Bristol Belle, now stored with the BBM&L, is still seen on the odd occasion. Most recently in summer 2017 on College Green for its 50th birthday alongside Bristol’s 2015 solar balloon. 

​This year’s fiesta flypast event takes place one morning from 1st - 14th August 2020.

Bristol Belle at the 2012 special shape rodeo

​Photo credits:
1988: Chris Leader         Action Man: Kevin Pearman          Rupert & 1998: Chris Hayden          2004: Matt Cleaves          2009: Ballooning Pictures          All others copyright MJ Ballooning