There’s nothing quite like the spectacle of watching hundreds of hot air balloons rise majestically into the summer skies. After all, according to AA Milne’s Winnie the Pooh: ‘Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.’ And thanks to a number of balloon festivals organised annually every summer, it’s a sight that everyone is welcome to enjoy.
Historic roots
Hot air ballooning was the earliest form of human flight – although the first ever balloonists were actually a duck, a sheep and a cockerel. In 1783, French brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier began to experiment with suspending a piece of fabric above a fire of wool and damp straw. Their idea took off – literally – and they were invited to repeat their experiment in Paris by the Academie Royale des Sciences. On 19 September, a balloon made of cotton canvas with paper glued onto its sides and bearing king Louis XVI’s cypher was demonstrated in front of the king himself, bearing the animals beneath it in a wicker basket. After a 600m flight, the sheep, duck and cockerel returned to earth alive and were given a place at the Menagerie in Versailles by the king. Within months, two human balloonists, Pilatre de Rozier and Francois Laurent d’Arlandes, had flown above Paris in the first manned hot air balloons.
A year later, Scottish aviator James Tyler became the first person to fly a hot air balloon in the UK, over Edinburgh. Almost a century on, in 1870, hot air balloons were used for military observation during the Franco-Prussian War, and again during World War One for enemy observation flights. Despite the invention of aeroplanes and jet-powered flight, balloon races and galas continued to be popular, and in 1960 American inventor Ed Yost created the modern propane burner to propel hot air into the balloon.
Lighter-than-air
There is now a global community with thousands of pilots who enjoy pleasure flights, as well as taking part in races and festivals. The British Balloon and Airship Club (BBAC) was founded in 1965 as a home for ‘lighter-than-air enthusiasts’ and the UK is still one of the leading places for ballooning, with almost 1,000 pilots and two world-leading balloon manufacturers. Wendy Rousell is secretary of the BBAC, and she and her husband are both pilots, with two of their own balloons that they take to festivals and events, having met through the sport. Wendy says she has been fascinated by ballooning ever since watching balloons coming into land with her dad back in 1978. ‘There’s just something really magical about them,’ she says. ‘They have such a calming effect – if you see one in the sky it makes you stop what you’re doing to watch.’
Wendy says that in a world of automation and technological advancements, hot air balloons are like an antithesis, relying on a basket, a burner and an envelope, which is the proper name for the balloon’s canopy. ‘I think one of the things that fascinates people is the silence,’ she says. ‘Of course there’s no engine, so apart from the occasional sound of the burner, balloons just appear to hang quietly in the sky. There is nothing – just a stillness.’ But despite being low-tech, balloonists still need a pilot’s licence, an understanding of aviation laws and weather systems and a crew of people to help get them off the ground.
Ballooning can also be record-breaking. According to the BBAC, the world altitude record for balloon flight was set in November 2005 by Vijaypat Singhania, who launched from Bombay, India, and reached 69,850ft.
Meanwhile, the oldest person to fly in a hot air balloon was Emma Carol, a 109-year-old who took to the skies in 1895, and the largest ever mass balloon ascent took place in Lorraine, France, in 2017, when 456 balloons lifted off as part of the Lorraine Mondial Air Balloons Festival. That record is hard to beat, but balloon festivals open to the public offer awe-inspiring launches of scores – often hundreds – of hot air balloons, and are a great way to support ballooning.
Events taking place in the UK this August include Strathaven Balloon Festival, Oswestry Balloon Carnival, Northampton Balloon Festival and the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. Ben Hardy is executive director of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta and says there will be more than 100 balloons at this year’s event, which attracted 500,000 visitors in 2023. ‘Bristol is special because it is one of the “balloon capitals” of the world,’ says Ben. ‘Don Cameron founded Cameron Balloons in 1971, and co-founded the fiesta in 1979. His business is one of the largest balloon manufacturers in the world.’
Balloon spotting
Mass balloon launches often happen at dawn or dusk. Wendy says: ‘The air is stiller at the beginning and end of the day, with fewer thermals, which we don’t like because they can make things a bit bumpy.’ But hot air balloons don’t even need to take off to create a visual spectacle. Festivals and events often organise ‘nightglows’ – after-dark displays where balloons tethered to the ground fire up their burners. ‘The one at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is particularly well-known,’ says Wendy. ‘It’s choreographed to music and the pilots pulse their burners in time to the music, lighting their envelopes like light bulbs. It’s really beautiful.’
Even a single balloon in flight can be breathtaking to watch, and for enthusiasts it can become a lifelong hobby. Many pilots begin as balloon-spotters, attending festivals and noting or photographing particular ones in the same way trainspotters or Stobart-spotters log trains or lorries. All balloons must carry a registration mark issued by the aviation authority in their country of origin, which in the UK is the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). British balloons will bear a marking that begins with the letter ‘G’, followed by a hyphen and four letters. The UK-Eire Balloon Register is published annually and lists all the balloons registered here.
Balloons also tend to be cheerfully marked – just as described by Winnie the Pooh – with stripes, slogans and other artwork. Although these days some go far beyond Pooh’s imagination, and at balloon festivals you’re likely to see balloons of all shapes and sizes, including flying cartoon and movie characters, animals, food and more.
Soaring thoughts
Whether you’re part of a hot air balloon crew, or simply enjoying taking in the spectacle at festivals, there’s something very mindful about the sport. Looking down from the basket, Wendy says she has a view of the world not many people get to see, perhaps watching hares gamboling in fields below in early dawn or foxes slipping back to their dens. As a spectator, the slow, stately nature of a balloon ascent encourages you to stop and be in the moment. ‘It really is something for all the senses,’ says Wendy. ‘It’s peaceful, mesmerising and relaxing, and a mass launch is an exercise in noticing. A family of four could be watching a launch and all notice something different.’
So if you have an opportunity to take in a balloon festival this summer, why not go along and support the pilots, crews and ballooning community? ‘It’s a wonderful day out,’ says Wendy. ‘It’s an opportunity to enjoy something low-tech, simply sitting and watching. We all need to do that now and again.’
Visit bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk
Words: Jade Beecroft
Photo: Paul Box © Bristol International Balloon Festival