Bristol’s 47th International Balloon Fiesta: More than just ballooning, it is legacy!

National World - LocalTV

But this year’s Fiesta is not just about tradition — it was about innovation too. For the first time ever, the event launched with a brand new Opening Ceremony — a choreographed celebration of Bristol’s creativity, featuring local artists, live music, and a countdown that ended with a special sunset balloon glow

Transcript

00:00We're here at Ashton Court Estate at the 47th Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.

00:04Well, obviously we've been going for 47 years, trapped hundreds of thousands of people here

00:07to Ashton Court Estate and this morning we had our first of the six master sense we're planning

00:12this weekend and it was a belter. We got a lot of balloons off the ground and yeah,

00:18it was a spectacular flight straight over the city. Hello from high above Bristol and what a view.

00:24I am floating among several hot air balloons, taking part in Europe's largest annual ballooning event.

00:31It's lift-off time at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.

00:35So this is actually my 10th anniversary from the Fiesta. I bought this kit in 2015.

00:42I attended the Bristol Fiesta in 2015 and I haven't done one since. So yeah, so this is quite,

00:48uh, it's like a, uh, ceremony, or not ceremony, what's the word?

00:55An anniversary.

00:55Like an anniversary of me coming. Um, which, yeah, which is part of the reason why I wanted

01:01to come this year.

01:02This spectacular tradition still draws crowds of over half a million people from across the globe.

01:09Well, um, if you go to our In The Clouds attraction, you'll see a film there about the first balloon

01:16that Don Cameron made, the Bristol Bell. And, um, it's quite remarkable that from that we've

01:21created this whole industry around hot air ballooning and the Fiesta came out of that

01:24whole, uh, whole industry. So, um, I think there's just something, you know, there's something

01:28about the balloons, our cityscape, and it all sort of fitting together that just makes

01:33it really special.

01:34Um, it's quite special. It's definitely special. It's, it's special taking part in any Fiesta.

01:40Um, taking part in coming.

01:43I think this is just, yeah, there's no words that explains it really. It's, um, unless you

01:51experience it yourself, you, you don't, you can't get the feeling of how incredible it

01:55is.

01:56Up here, it's like being inside a moving cloud. Just look at the colours all around us. Every year,

02:02over 130 balloons take to the skies, including everything from your classic shapes to flying

02:09dragons, houses, and even a giant Rupert bear. From this height, you can truly see the scale

02:15of the Fiesta. Families filling Ashton core, roads packed with early rises and balloons stretching

02:21right across the skyline. The first Fiesta took off back in 1979, and today it brings in an

02:29estimated 15 million pounds to the local economy. It's a, it's a 12 month process. So no sooner

02:35as we finished one Fiesta, we move on to the next. There's a team of four of us working

02:39on it 12 months of a year. And then that team builds up, um, to about 28 in the final weeks.

02:46I mean, the Fiesta is something I used to come to a lot as a kid, just, um, watching other

02:51balloons and watching sort of family taking off, uh, with the rides company. So being able

02:56to do it now is quite incredible.

02:59So,

03:06you'll check all Key areas that can also be a full- организm wünsto a large Art team

03:10around 50 the area.

03:12So,

03:14okay,

03:15let's know your time,

03:17guys,

03:18um,

03:19it's usually a six dollar team.

03:20You say,

03:22let's start off the table,

03:24like,

03:25the

03:26list

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