Bristol International Balloon Fiesta announces details of 2019 theme

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta returns to Ashton Court Estate from the 8 – 11 August 2019 with a celebration of Bristol’s great icons.

The iconic event has joined forces with Aerospace Bristol to honour one of the city’s most famed creations, Concorde, and Aardman who are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Wallace & Gromit.

To mark the celebratory year the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta has partnered with BBC Radio Bristol to deliver a very special edition soundtrack for the famous Night Glow events, playing homage to all the city’s most-loved and respected stars. As the balloons tether and glow like giant light bulbs in time to music, the soundtrack for the evening will celebrate the city.

On Thursday 8 August, the opening Night Glow event will be sponsored by another Bristol icon and international pioneer in the aerospace sector, Airbus, celebrating 50 years of pioneering progress.

The Fiesta are also currently crowdfunding to bring another Bristol icon, the Darth Vader hot air balloon to the event after it was made in the city by Cameron Balloons but has never flown here.

Now in its 41st year, Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is Europe’s largest hot air balloon festival, attracting over half a million locals and visitors alike.

In recognition of the momentous 50th anniversary of Concorde - one of aviation’s most inspiring creations - Captain Tim Orchard, former Concorde pilot and balloonist, will be bringing his very special hopper balloon to the 2019 Fiesta. Tim’s balloon is entirely unique as it made from the original seats of the 1980s Concorde Tim used to pilot.

Fiesta fans will get the chance to see a unique piece of aviation history in action, with the added bonus of it being piloted by a highly experienced former Concorde pilot. As Tim says, it’s “the only bit of Concorde that still flies!”.

Alongside the arena presence, Aerospace Bristol will be bringing a brand new exhibition of Concorde images and objects to the Fiesta. Entitled ‘Concorde: The World Shrinker’, the exhibition will explore the original aspirations for the world’s fastest passenger jet, the global routes it would hopefully fly and the idea of changing passenger travel forever.  Objects on display will include a Concorde pilot’s uniform, a Concorde model, and an interactive exhibit showing Bristol icons racing across the Atlantic. The exhibition will also feature a series of fun, free five minute Live Science Shows with Aerospace Bristol’s Learning Team, and will be open across the four days, giving visitors the chance to explore, learn and understand Concorde like never before.

In addition to the curation and production of the Night Glows, BBC Radio Bristol will be broadcasting live across the four days of the event from a pop-up studio, near the main arena.

The radio station will host a stage featuring live acoustic performances from acts who have appeared on BBC Upload – as well as Q&A sessions with BBC presenters and the team from Aardman.

Plus fiesta fans will be able try their hand at presenting the weather in front of a green screen at the event.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Wallace & Gromit, the famous duo will feature heavily in the Night Glow soundtracks and Fiesta fans will also be given the chance to win a hot air balloon ride with Morph.

Aardman will also be running ticketed model making workshops to allow visitors the chance to get immersed in the Aardman experience creating their own models of Gromit, Feathers McGraw and Shaun the Sheep.

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta has long been a highlight in Britain’s event calendar, with over 100 hot air balloons taking off from Ashton Court Estate at dawn and dusk, and lighting up the sky at night with evening balloon glows.

Featuring four days of colourful hot air balloon displays, hundreds of thousands of visitors gather in the rolling hills of Ashton Court Estate, on the outskirts of Bristol to watch balloons of all shapes and sizes lift off over the city.

As well as the balloon ascents, there is entertainment for all the family throughout the day, including aerial displays, children’s activities and entertainment, fairground rides, delicious food stalls and bars, balloon tethering and demonstrations, model aircraft displays and a local music stage.

For visitors planning on driving to the event, car parking tickets are now available and must be booked in advance. Tickets are available from the event website www.bristolballoonfiesta.co.uk. Tickets for the Aardman model making workshops will also shortly be available from the website.

To help bring the Darth Vader hot air balloon home to Bristol and support the iconic event in return for incredible, unique rewards pledges to the crowdfunder can be made by visiting www.fundsurfer.com/crowdfund/bristolinternationalballoonfiesta

To stay up-to-date and find out more about this year’s event follow @BristolBalloon on Instagram and Twitter and @bristolinternationalballoonfiesta on Facebook.

For more information about Concorde’s 50th anniversary, visit www.concorde50.org

About Aardman

Aardman, based in Bristol (UK) and co-founded in 1976 by Peter Lord and David Sproxton, is an independent and multi-award-winning studio. It produces feature films, series, advertising, interactive entertainment and attractions for both the domestic and international market. Their productions are novel, entertaining, brilliantly characterised and full of charm reflecting the unique talent, energy and personal commitment of the Aardman team. The studio’s work is often imitated and yet the company continues to lead the field producing a rare brand of visually stunning content for cinema, broadcasters, digital platforms and live experiences around the world. In November 2018, Aardman became an Employee Owned organisation, ensuring that the studio remains independent and securing the creative legacy and culture of the company for the future. www.aardman.com

About Wallace & Gromit

Wallace and Gromit, Aardman’s most loved and iconic duo have been delighting family audiences around the world for 30 years. First hitting our screens in Nick Park’s Academy Award®-winning ‘Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out’ (1989) the pair went on to star in three further half hour specials (Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993), Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave (1995) and Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf or Death (2009)) and a feature length film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and are internationally celebrated winning over 100 awards at festivals - including 3 Academy® Awards and 5 BAFTA® Awards.

A regular highlight of the primetime BBC schedules, especially during the festive season, they have become British national treasures and icons in their own right. ‘Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf or Death’ still remains the most watched Christmas Day programme since 2005 when it premiered on BBCOne. With a permanent attraction at Blackpool Pleasure Beach with over 500,000 riders every year, over 1 million fans on Facebook and over 15million views on YouTube, these perennial characters continue to grow audiences across multiple platforms.

Wallace & Gromit's Children's Charity is a national charity raising funds to improve the lives of sick children in hospitals and hospices throughout the UK, raising over £50million since 1995.