Latest news with #ballooning
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Bristol Balloon Fiesta: Cameron Balloons staff celebrate founder
Friends and colleagues have been raising a glass to celebrate a man who helped establish the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, ahead of the event's Balloons founder, Don Cameron, who recently turned 86, is credited with putting Bristol and ballooning on the world map and being one of the founders of the popular Fiesta, which begins today and runs until and some friends built western Europe's first modern hot air balloon back in 1967 from his basement flat in the hobby quickly became a thriving business which moved into a disused church hall before expanding into its current flagship Bedminster factory. At a gathering to celebrate his birthday, Mr Cameron said: "Birthdays when you get to my stage are not good news at all. But it's better than the alternative!"He reminded staff of the balloon that started it all, the Bristol Belle, which was the first balloon that he made in the mid-60s."Quite a while back now. Let's hope we can go on for another half-century," Mr Cameron also took the opportunity to inspect the old balloon which is now a little timeworn, but still brings back a lot of memories. Cameron Balloons has faced challenges over the years said Mr Cameron's son Dave, who is the technical director of the business. He said: "There are some economic headwinds. Brexit was quite difficult for anyone that exports, business doesn't need big change like that. "And obviously some of the economic changes the government has brought in which puts a stress on. "But we're doing ok. We want to look after everyone that's here." Some Cameron Balloons staff members have worked for the company for decades. Julia Dalby from the sales team said: "Being involved in ballooning is being part of a large extended family. "It's just been a marvellous experience; a privilege to be part of that community."Sales director, Nick Purvis, added: "I started in 1978 in Cotham. "The whole business has grown, evolved, matured and to see our balloons now in these far flung places doing extraordinary things is one of the great joys." Younger team members are also rising through the ranks. Paul Waldby and Fleur Pryce are in training to become balloon Pryce said: "This business has made an impact on a lot of Bristolians. I feel like it's been a big part of the history here."It's really inspiring, it's nice to be a part of it."Mr Waldby, who is from Australia, said: "All I knew about the place is that there were balloons here, it's really quite iconic."In 1978, Don Cameron was asked to give a talk about his ballooning exploits, and the idea of a balloon fiesta was born in the pub the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta attracts hundreds of thousands of people and is the largest hot air balloon festival in Europe.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Meet the team behind the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta
The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta has been drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to the city since 1979. From its mass ascents, nightglows and activities, the event at Ashton Court Estate appears seamless every year. But it is all thanks to the thousands of people working tirelessly behind the scenes throughout the year to deliver the beloved fiesta. "It's a 12-month process each year. No sooner than we've finished a fiesta, then we've debriefed it and we're starting to plan the next year," said Ben Hardy, the event's executive director. Mr Hardy has led the team, which exceeds 2,000 members by the time the annual event returns, for about four years. "Fundamentally, we're trying to take a field and turn it into a small town for the weekend," he Badley is the production and operations lead, responsible for managing the event team on site. Her "varied" role involves managing those working in production, working alongside the site manager and dealing with traders, exhibitors, contractors and sponsors. "I am a Bristolian, so working on something like the fiesta - which is obviously iconic for the city and means a lot to the culture - that in turn means a lot to me," Ms Badley said. "It's great to be part of that and it's great to see the impact we can have on the communities and the city as a whole," she added. Pete Dalby is a volunteer board director and part of the flying committee. His roles involve overseeing all ballooning activity and making the crucial decision of whether pilots can previous years, both spectators and the team behind the fiesta have faced disappointment due to the weather conditions prohibiting pilots from taking to the skies. Mr Dalby said: "We only cancel flights for very good reasons because we all want to go flying."We need light winds, we need no rain, it needs to be a stable atmosphere and we need to know the direction that the wind is likely to take us as well. "We also need good visibility - it's no good sending all the balloons off into low cloud because then they'll start bumping into each other and they can't see where they're going. "We've got to take all those things into consideration," he added. Watching the forecast is also "the most stressful part" for Ian Martin, the choreographer and director of the Nightglow spectacle, where balloons tethered to the ground glow in time to music, began in 1997. Mr Martin took over the role about 16 years ago. "I always say that balloonists are showmen," he said."We like to show off, we like to show the balloons, we like to entertain and we're proud of that. "Nightglows are a great way for us to create a greater interest in ballooning and the fiesta itself." For Mr Martin, his involvement in the fiesta comes later in the planning stages. After he receives a tracklist from BBC Radio Bristol about three weeks prior to the fiesta, he spends many hours planning the choreography. He explains that no rehearsal takes place for the nightglow - the team just get one opportunity on the prepare, Mr Martin "envisages" what the balloons will look like when glowing to the music. But he also has to consider practical aspects by allowing frequent moments for the balloons to cool and release hot air. On the night, the pilots wear headphones to listen to the track and Mr Martin's directions. "There's quite a lot of stress and there's quite a lot of anticipation and worry. Luckily, I'm not a person that stresses easily, so when the pressure is on and something goes wrong - a balloon suddenly can't inflate and it's flopping about on the floor and the pilot's up there probably getting really stressed - I just call on the radio and say 'take your time'."Once we hit the button, we're running and there's nothing I can do about it," Mr Martin said. When the fiesta returns for its 47th edition on Friday, the efforts of the team will be on display for tens of thousands of spectators to enjoy. For executive director Mr Hardy, "it's unlike any other event you can put on". "There's just something magical about it."
BBC News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Third generation balloonist to fly at Bristol Balloon Fiesta
A third generation hot air balloonist who has flown all over the world has said the Bristol Balloon Fiesta is a huge part of his Hall, 32, from Taunton, runs Flyaway Ballooning, and grew up around the activity. His grandmother, Gwen Bellew, was one of the British female pilots in 1968 and his mother, father, sister and uncle all had licenses."My dad used to fly from Bath and I spent my childhood sitting on the tank, watching him fly, sometimes before school. We'd land in a field and I'd get a bit of champagne afterwards," Mr Hall Hall is among many pilots who will fly at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta which is being held between 8-10 August. Mr Hall said there had been lots of balloons in the house during his childhood."I'd invite friends around and we were jumping around baskets, being a nuisance, swinging around the office chair pretending to run the business at the age of seven."He took charge of his first flight aged 14 in France."My dad jumped out of the basket, and said 'just fly over the forest, we'll find you on the other side'." Mr Hall now flies hot air balloons in India, and has travelled all over the world."It's not so commercialised in India as it is in the rest of the world. I think there's only four Indian pilots in total," he said."When you come to land, there will be hundreds, potentially thousands of people that just surround the basket, and they want selfies and to shake your hand, which is really nice."Though ballooning is more familiar to people here, it still draws huge crowds. That interest carries the world over," Mr Hall added. What started out as a hobby has now become a full-time job for Mr Hall."Sometimes when that happens you can lose interest, but it hasn't happened for me yet," he said."Everybody loves a balloon flight, and it's pretty rewarding when you're giving someone a once in a lifetime experience, and it's one of those things that is accessible to nearly everyone, yet still quite an adventure."I enjoy the chaos of not knowing whether you're coming or going, and it's all very weather dependent, but that's how we work," Mr Hall added.
ABC News
03-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Hot air balloons draw tourists to Northam in winter
Colour and light filled the skies in Northam during Western Australia's long weekend as the Wheatbelt town marketed itself as the "ballooning capital of Australia". Hundreds woke up to foggy skies in the Avon Valley, 100 kilometres east of Perth, to admire the hot air balloons over three mornings, before 8,000 visitors flocked to see the balloons light up at night, in time to rock tunes, for the Elevate Festival. A major drawcard of the Northam long weekend line-up was the inflation of the Skywhale and Skywhalepapa hot air balloons that were designed and made by Patricia Piccinini. Piccinini's artworks are travelling around the country with Northam one of six national showings. For a hot air balloon to take flight, on-ground wind speeds must not exceed 10 kilometres per hour, and the Avon Valley largely protects the area from such wind speeds. Unfortunately, due to unfavourable weather conditions, Piccinini's balloons were unable to take flight over Northam, instead tethering and putting on a show from the ground. Shire of Northam president Chris Antonio said the town's ability to embrace the cool conditions of the Avon Valley that were ideal for hot air ballooning, and turn them into a thriving tourist economy, was vital to the growth of the region. "Leveraging our unique climate and tying it in with ballooning is more important than I probably even realised," he said. "Traditionally in WA, tourism booms through the sunny months of the year, but we've been able to make tourism work in the peak of winter — that's our busiest time of year. "We are able to position ourselves as the ballooning capital of Australia." Mr Antonio said the town, which traditionally operated as a service town for smaller Wheatbelt communities, had previously struggled to establish a strong brand with tourists, but through hot air ballooning had become competitive with other tourism regions of the state. "But when winter comes, we have the flowing Avon River and the hot air balloons. "You can't do that in other places. That is our point of difference." Speaking at the Wheatbelt Futures Forum in Northam in May, North Eastern Wheatbelt TRAVEL's Linda Vernon said there was limited data on tourism in the region as a whole, with more focus on areas such as the South West. Despite limited data, she said there had been growth in visitor numbers to the Wheatbelt over the past decade that indicated an appetite for going inland. "The tourism space in the Wheatbelt is still immature and emerging," she said. Ms Vernon said feedback from tourists indicated that drawcards were niche events allowing visitors to connect with residents.
