The first Northampton Balloon Festival was held in 1990 in Racecourse Park, an open space park located in downtown Northampton. Its main attractions were two special shape balloons, Rupert the Bear and Chubb fire extinguisher. During the early years of its existence, the Northampton Balloon Festival was a family-friendly event that drew a lot of people who came to enjoy an August weekend, looking at colorful hot air balloons and visiting various stalls and attractions.
In 2001, the Northampton Balloon Festival was merged with the Northampton Town Show to form the Northampton Festival. The program was expanded to include music performances by renowned artists and bands such as Ronan Keating, Big Brovaz, the Sugarbabes, Lemar, Rachel Stevens, Signature, and Rick Astley. Nevertheless, the popularity of the event began to dwindle due to lack of funding and some other issues.
The revival of the festival began in 2009, when the event was taken over by new organizers and moved to the Billing Aquadrome Holiday Park in the eastern district of Northampton. Since 2012, the Northampton Balloon Festival has been sponsored by Pure Leisure, the owner of Billing Aquadrome.
What does the Northampton Balloon Festival to have offer? Of course, its program revolves around balloon-related events such as morning and afternoon launches and a Balloon Glow. The launches take place every day at 6 am and 6 pm, weather permitting. The Balloon Glow takes place at 9 pm on Saturday evening. It features tethered balloons that pulsate to the music like giant lanterns. At 2 am, attendees can take a tethered balloon ride and talk to the pilots and crews who will gladly answer all their questions.
The program of the festival also includes falconry displays, kite displays, games and entertainment for children, shows, and other events and activities for visitors of all ages. Of course, there are food and merchandise vendors so no one will leave the festival hungry and/or without any souvenirs.
Photo: harrypope
