Will the balloons fly?

The forecast wind at Ashton Court against the figure the CAA publishes for mass take-offs, where the real call gets announced, and everything about the Fiesta that doesn't depend on the weather — including next year's dates.

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The mass ascents fly, or they don't, on the day. The Fiesta's flight team decides at 6am and 6pm at Ashton Court and posts the call minutes later — nobody knows before that, including this page, and the organisers say so themselves: they wait until the very last moment to give the balloons the best chance of flying.

So in the days a Fiesta is running, this page shows the forecast wind at the launch field against the one figure the Civil Aviation Authority publishes for mass take-offs, and points you at the channels where the real call appears. The rest of it holds all year: the parking you have to book before you come, the bus that doesn't run on Sunday, the free places to watch from, and what past Fiestas actually did — which is the closest thing to an answer anyone has in advance.

2026

Bristol International Balloon Fiesta has finished for this year.

The programme below is kept as the record of what was scheduled.

Next: Friday 13 to Sunday 15 August 2027.

The Fiesta put next year's dates on its own site as the 2026 event closed. The day-by-day programme is not published yet — which mornings and evenings carry a mass ascent, and when the Night Glows are — so the timetable below is still 2026's, kept as the record. It will be replaced when the 2027 one goes up.

Where the call is announced

The decision is made by the Fiesta's flight team, not by this page. The Fiesta's own answer, in its own words: “The decision is made by our flight team at 6am and 6pm each day at the event and is announced in the arena and on our social media channels shortly afterwards.” In practice the post has landed anywhere from about three quarters of an hour before a slot to half an hour after it — a 2025 evening cancellation went up at 6.04pm, four minutes after the scheduled ascent.

Announced on: @bristolballoon on X · @bristolballoon on Instagram · Bristol International Balloon Fiesta on Facebook

@bristolballoon on X — Where the fly-or-no-fly call has gone up first in recent years.

What the published guidance says

Everything this page compares a forecast against comes from one document, CAP 1739. It is guidance, written with “should” and “typically” — not a legal cutoff, and not a promise about any particular morning.

“Mass take-offs should only take place in wind speeds of eight knots or less on the surface. When circumstances dictate, especially in gusty wind conditions and when winds exceed eight knots, take-offs may be staged in 'waves' so as to maximise the separation of balloons. The speed of the upper winds should also be considered.”
— UK Civil Aviation Authority, CAP 1739 “Safety Guidance for Balloon Events and Competitions”, Edition 1 (April 2026), paragraph 2.54 — prepared with the ballooning community, including the British Balloon and Airship Club

Eight knots is guidance, not a legal limit. CAP 1739 says mass take-offs “should” happen at eight knots or less, and that above that figure launches may be staged in waves rather than called off. It was written with the British Balloon and Airship Club, so it is the closest thing to a published rule that exists.
The same guidance lists forecast storms or convective activity, and poor visibility or low cloud, as reasons to delay, alter or cancel a flight — none of which a wind figure shows.
Wind that is too light is also a reason not to fly: with light and variable wind there may be no safe landing options ahead of the balloons.
Once the flight team permits flying, the final decision rests with each individual pilot. That is why an ascent can be partial — some balloons free-flying while the rest put on a tether show.
Nearly every cancellation of the last four years came down to the wind at 1,000 to 2,000 feet, or to wind direction — toward Avonmouth, the M5 or the Bristol Channel. A surface forecast sees neither, so a calm-looking morning can still be a no-fly, and the flight team's own list includes speeds at 2,000 feet, gusts, visibility, precipitation and direction.

The programme, slot by slot

Forecast updated now.

Friday, 7 August 2026 · 06:00 — Friday morning mass ascent
This slot has passed.
Friday, 7 August 2026 · 18:00 — Friday evening mass ascent
This slot has passed.
Friday, 7 August 2026 · 21:00 — Friday Night Glow
A tethered glow, not a mass ascent — the balloons stay on the ground, so it is far less weather-dependent and gets no wind reading here.
Saturday, 8 August 2026 · 06:00 — Saturday morning mass ascent
This slot has passed.
Saturday, 8 August 2026 · 18:00 — Saturday evening mass ascent
This slot has passed.
Saturday, 8 August 2026 · 21:00 — Saturday Night Glow
A tethered glow, not a mass ascent — the balloons stay on the ground, so it is far less weather-dependent and gets no wind reading here.
Sunday, 9 August 2026 · 06:00 — Sunday morning mass ascent
This slot has passed.
Sunday, 9 August 2026 · 18:00 — Sunday evening mass ascent
This slot has passed.
The closing ceremony follows at 6.15pm.

What past years actually did

Counted from slot-by-slot reporting across the 2022–2026 Fiestas: 32 scheduled mass ascents, 17 confirmed flown, 14 confirmed cancelled, one outcome we could not establish, and two 2025 slots where the total is known but not which evening was lost. Every stated cause was wind — speed, gusts, fast upper winds, or the wrong direction. The pattern in those numbers is the time of day, not the year: 2026 was an unusually good Fiesta and still lost an evening, when Sunday's ascent was called off for rising wind. Night Glows are tethered and far more weather-tolerant: all ten scheduled between 2022 and 2026 went ahead.

Slots	Flew	Called off	Not established
Morning ascents (6am)	12	3	0
Evening ascents (6pm)	5	11	1

Where people watch from

Greville Smyth Park
Less than a twenty-minute walk from the site.
Victoria Park
Also under twenty minutes' walk.
Clifton Observatory
The Clifton Suspension Bridge
But it closes to everyone from 6pm to midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Durdham Down and the Downs
Brandon Hill
Harbourside
Troopers Hill
Perretts Park
Dundry Hill
The Avon Gorge

Parking has to be booked before you come

These were the 2026 arrangements. The Fiesta re-publishes prices and release dates each spring, so read them as the shape of it rather than as next year's figures.

Every car park ticket must be bought in advance and is single entry — there are none on the gate. They are also non-refundable even if the balloons don't fly or inflate, which the Fiesta states plainly.

Prices rise through tiered releases, so what you pay depends on when you book. First-release prices: Blue car park (Gate 4, next to the site) £16, Red car park (the main public one, with a walk downhill) £10, the accessible car park at Orange Gate £10, motorbikes £10. Later releases run up to £30–£35, and Saturday's Blue releases had already sold out in late July.

Car parks open at 5am, except the Red car park on Friday, which opens at 10am. Last entry is 5pm, strictly. No overnight parking, and no caravans or large motorhomes.

Source: Bristol International Balloon Fiesta — car parking, checked 25 August 2026 (last month).

Getting there without a car

Fares and first buses below are 2026's and are re-set each year, but the shape of it does not move: a shuttle from Temple Meads, a metrobus to Long Ashton, and no early Sunday service at all.

A Stagecoach shuttle bus runs from Temple Meads via the city centre to the site from 10am daily — £8 adult, £5 under-16, £22 for a group of five, per day, with returns until 11.30pm on Friday and Saturday and 9.30pm on Sunday. Book ahead.

The m2 metrobus runs from Temple Meads to Long Ashton Park & Ride, a short walk from the site, from 6.13am on Friday and 6.20am on Saturday, last return 8.50pm. It does not run on Sunday — worth knowing, because it is the only early-morning public transport to a 6am ascent.

Long Ashton Park & Ride itself is a taxi drop-off point during the Fiesta and you cannot leave a car there. The nearest station is Parson Street, about thirty minutes' walk. You can also walk or cycle in along the Festival Way. If you drive into the city on the way, Bristol's Clean Air Zone may apply.

Source: Bristol International Balloon Fiesta — getting here, checked 25 August 2026 (last month).

The Clifton Suspension Bridge closes in the evenings

On the Friday and Saturday of the Fiesta the bridge closes to vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists from 6pm until midnight — in 2026 that was the 7th and the 8th. It is both a walking route to the Ashton Court side and one of the well-known viewing spots, so an evening plan that depends on crossing it needs a rethink. The Bridge confirms its own closures shortly before each Fiesta.

Access

Blue Badge parking is at the Orange Gate car park, the closest to the site; the permit holder has to be present and the ticket bought in advance.

The accessible viewing area at the bottom of the arena is free but must be pre-booked — one disabled person plus one carer per ticket, and proof of eligibility may be asked for. There are accessible toilets at all three toilet blocks and an AccessoLoo with a hoist near the entrance, and lowered bar counters.

The ground is grass: the Fiesta's own warning is that paths may have uneven spots and can get slippery when wet.

Source: Bristol International Balloon Fiesta — accessibility, checked 25 July 2026 (2 months ago).

Dogs, drones, and the launch field

Dogs are welcome on a lead — and the Fiesta points out that some dogs are frightened of hot air balloons. Guide dogs are welcome throughout.

The launch field itself is not open to the public; the arena sits in a natural amphitheatre above it. Drones are strictly prohibited at or over the site and an airspace restriction is in place for the duration of the event.

If you live nearby

There are road closures around Ashton Court every evening from 7pm. The B3128 closes 9.30pm–11.30pm, and the A370 between Winterstoke Road and Colliters Way closes 9.30pm–midnight on Friday and Saturday. Resident Access Passes are posted to households — two per household, with more on request.

What else is on

The Night Glow — balloons tethered and lit in sequence to music — is at 9pm on Friday and Saturday only, with the Model Balloons Glow at 8.15pm before it and a soundtrack produced by BBC Radio Bristol. Sunday finishes with a closing ceremony at 6.15pm instead.

There were no fireworks in the published 2026 programme, whatever older listings say, and no official campsite.

Official pages

Bristol International Balloon FiestaEntry is free and unticketed — the Fiesta says that is a key part of the ethos of the event. Parking is what costs, and it has to be booked in advance.
Bristol International Balloon Fiesta — the official siteThe last word on the programme, and the place any change is published.
The 2026 timetableEvery listed time carries the Fiesta's own note that it is subject to change with the weather.
Car park ticketsAdvance only, single entry, and non-refundable even if the balloons stay on the ground.
CAP 1739 — the CAA's safety guidance for balloon eventsWhere the eight-knot figure on this page comes from, in its own words.

Everything above is a weather model read over the launch field and compared with one published figure. It is not the decision. Whether the balloons go up is decided at the slot itself by the Fiesta's flight team, and announced on the channels above. Wind, rain, cloud and visibility are model forecasts for a grid cell near the launch field at Ashton Court Estate, not measurements at the field, and the surface wind is only one of the things a flight team weighs. Weather data by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).

Will the balloons fly?

About these tools

What the published guidance says

The programme, slot by slot

Friday, 7 August 2026 · 06:00 — Friday morning mass ascent

Friday, 7 August 2026 · 18:00 — Friday evening mass ascent

Friday, 7 August 2026 · 21:00 — Friday Night Glow

Saturday, 8 August 2026 · 06:00 — Saturday morning mass ascent

Saturday, 8 August 2026 · 18:00 — Saturday evening mass ascent

Saturday, 8 August 2026 · 21:00 — Saturday Night Glow

Sunday, 9 August 2026 · 06:00 — Sunday morning mass ascent

Sunday, 9 August 2026 · 18:00 — Sunday evening mass ascent

What past years actually did

Where people watch from

Greville Smyth Park

Victoria Park

Clifton Observatory

The Clifton Suspension Bridge

Durdham Down and the Downs

Brandon Hill

Harbourside

Troopers Hill

Perretts Park

Dundry Hill

The Avon Gorge