A three-year partnership between Bristol International Balloon Fiesta and charity Young Bristol will enable local young people to explore opportunities within the unique hot air balloon industry. Alongside targeted youth activities throughout the festival weekend (Aug. 7-9, 2026), five young people received a bespoke hot air balloon flying lesson, a further four attended a college industry event, and a hot air balloon also appeared at Stockwood youth club.
Official charity partner
The 48th annual free-to-attend Bristol International Balloon Fiesta took place recently at Ashton Court. It celebrated Bristol’s ballooning heritage with over 100 global and distinctive hot air balloons, including a green alien-shaped balloon. Charity partner Young Bristol (YB) attended the event with a range of YB Youth Hub activities for visitors to enjoy.
Before the festival on July 10, five young people from YB’s Outdoor Employment Programme undertook a once-in-a-lifetime hot air balloon piloting lesson, thanks to the Fiesta organisers and teams at First Flight and Sky High Ballooning. The group prepared the balloon, inflated it, took off and flew it while tethered, then landed and then packed it away afterwards. Teamwork, discipline, safety and “banter” were said to be the necessary skills to get the aircraft out of the bag and into the air. Flight Director for the Fiesta Clive Bailey also told the BBC:
“Kids just don’t get an opportunity to do this…Some of these young adults will become pilots, I’m absolutely certain.”
One of the young people, Amir Ashant, said he found it “peaceful and relaxing” and that he is considering becoming a pilot. Pilot Phil Hooper, who assisted the young people, has been a pilot for over 25 years and said he had started ballooning when just aged 11.
Up, up and away
The first successful manned and untethered hot air balloon flight took off from Paris in 1783, much earlier than the first successful flight of a powered aircraft by the Wright Brothers in 1903. This early form of aviation has continued to develop, and in the late 1950s, the U.S. Navy engineered the use of propane, rather than the initial risky use of heat from fire and then hydrogen gas.
In 1965, the British Balloon and Airship Club (BBAC) was founded. Its website states that:
There is now a “global community of thousands of pilots, with the UK one of the leading figures in the industry with close to 1,000 pilots, two of the leading balloon manufacturers in the world and dozens of hot air balloon festivals.”
The BBAC website also gives a breakdown of what is involved to achieve a UK Balloon Pilot Licence (with necessary club membership):
- Flight training (minimum 16 hours, with 4 hours with an instructor and 12 hours with a qualified pilot with over 50 hours of experience). Flight exercises are required as well as a minimum of 10 inflations, 20 take-offs and 20 landings.
- 2 tethered flights at least 10 metres off the ground, one to be signed off by the instructor.
- 30-minute supervised solo flight.
- Written exams with 120 multiple-choice exam questions.
- Practical flight skill test with an examiner.
While deciding to become a balloon pilot is unusual, this new ongoing partnership between Bristol International Balloon Fiesta and YB will certainly have provided some of Bristol’s young people with the initial inspiration.
Have you ever attended a hot air balloon festival or perhaps enjoyed a ballooning experience complete with Champagne? Let us know in the comments below.
