What better way for Virgin Balloon Flights to take life higher than for us to celebrate 50 years of our hometown at Telford’s first-ever balloon fiesta?
We took two of our beautiful big red balloons to Telford Balloon and Kite Fiesta, held at Telford Town Park over the weekend of 12th and 13th May 2018.
While our beautiful big red passenger balloon took visitors up, up, and away on four scheduled flights across the weekend, our ‘baby’ balloon tethered in the arena for most of the Saturday afternoon.
One of the weekend's highlights was the amazing Red Devils parachute display team, who landed in a spectacular display in front of the tethered balloon.
And Virgin Balloon Flights was the ONLY hot air balloon given permission to be in the arena for this spectacular display. What an awesome way for us to help celebrate Telford50.
Our Own Ballooning Red Devil
And that was because our ace pilot Sue Carden had not only had the Red Devil parachute in around her balloon before, she had even flown and had some of its daredevils jump and parachute out of her basket!
For us, one of the highlights was definitely the hot air balloon night glow on a Saturday evening – an awesome display set to a musical soundtrack loud enough to make the ground tremble.
Throw in an awesome display by the Broke FMX motorbike stunt display team, three ‘mass ascents’ with more than 20 balloons taking to the sky at the same time, kite flying and kit building workshops, street entertainment (including fire-eaters!) and circus tent and it really was an event to remember.
“To see the Red Devils parachuting in around our balloon was just amazing,” said Matt, head of Virgin Balloon Flights marketing team.
“It really was a fantastic weekend and a fantastic first hot air balloon fiesta for Telford. The stunt bikers performing right in front of our red balloon were also amazing to see.
“Having been to our fair share of balloon festivals over the years, including the massive Bristol Balloon Fiesta every year, we would definitely put Telford Balloon Fiesta up there with one of the best.”
Flying High At Telford Balloon Fiesta
All four of our scheduled flights from the event went ahead, and our big passenger balloon was even on national TV when it appeared on BBC Breakfast during the Saturday morning launch.
We were also joined by the outgoing Mayor and Mayor of Telford, Councillor Stephen Reynolds, and his wife Shirley, who hopped into our tethered balloon basket.
Councillor Reynolds was even given a quick lesson in ballooning basics, getting the chance to fire the balloon burners under the instruction of pilot Sue.
Our friends from WR Davies Toyota here in Telford also joined us for the event on a Saturday, letting us borrow one of their awesome brand-new Toyota Land Cruisers as a chase car.
“We’re already looking forward to next year and have everything crossed that the council brings back Telford Balloon and Kite Fiesta as an annual event,” added Matt.
“We’re definitely up for it.”
Telford is one of Virgin Balloon Flights' most popular Shropshire launch sites, where we usually take off from Telford Golf and Spa Hotel.
To book your own Telford hot air balloon ride and the adventure of a lifetime, call us on 01952 212750 or find out more here.