Early morning mass ascent

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is held during August in Bristol, United Kingdom. Teams from all over the UK and other parts of the world bring their hot air balloons to the site and participate in mass ascents where as many as 100 balloons may launch at a time. Download high resolution version (2816x2120, 1501 KB)Morning shot of mass balloon ascent at Bristol Balloon Fiesta This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (2816x2120, 1501 KB)Morning shot of mass balloon ascent at Bristol Balloon Fiesta This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Bristol is an English city and county and one of the two administrative centres of South West England (the other being Plymouth). ... Hot air balloons are the oldest successful human flight technology, dating back to the Montgolfier brothers invention in Annonay, France in 1783. ...

The event is one of the largest in Europe and it is common to have crowds of over 100,000 on each of the four days of the festival. It takes place in a large country estate Ashton Court. Balloon launches are attempted twice a day, at 6am and 6pm, subject to weather conditions. Ashton Court is a mansion house and estate to the west of Bristol in England. ...

One popular attraction is the night glow, when balloons are inflated and glow to music after dark. Another attraction is the large number of special shaped balloons which take off in addition to the regular ones.

In 2003 the weight of crowds returning from the Balloon Fiesta and Ashton Court festival put such great strain on the Clifton Suspension Bridge that it was decided to close the bridge to all traffic, including pedestrians, during these events from 2004 onwards. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ashton Court festival is an outdoors music festival held annually in the grounds of Ashton Court, just outside Bristol, in mid July. ... The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• The official site of the fiesta is www.bristolfiesta.co.uk