Official Website of the Northampton Balloon Festival

Where is 2012 disappearing to? Its only a few months now until one of the biggest balloon events in the country returns this summer to Billing Aquadrome.

Want to get a taste of things to come? We have updated the balloons booked to attend page showing you a selection of balloons that will be at the 2012 Northampton Balloon Festival.

Please note, special shape balloons are even more weather dependant than standard shape balloons.

Northampton Balloon Festival

With only 6 months left to go until The Northampton Balloon Festival 2012 kicks off, the 2012 balloonist application forms are now available to download.

The event takes place between Friday 17th to Sunday 19th August 2012 at Billing Aquadrome for the 4th time. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you a pilot looking to attend this years Northampton Balloon Festival? You can now register your interest and have the application form sent straight to your inbox as soon as its ready.

The 2012 event will take place between 17-19 August at Billing Aquadrome

With the fantastic sucess of the 2011 Balloon Festival, 5 out of 6 flights flown and a stunning 7 Balloon Nightglow on the Saturday evening, we are pleased to confirm that the Northampton Balloon Festival will be back again at Billing Aquadrome next year, 17-19 August 2012 are dates to keep clear in your diary.

We are still sifting through the hundreds of e-mails we recieved during the weekend with all of your fantastic photographs, we hope to have the 2011 galleries online in the next day or so.

For the first time in many years at The Northampton Balloon Festival, the Balloons have flown every morning and evening so far.

Several Balloons braved the windy conditions on Friday evening and around 20 balloons flew Saturday morning and evening.

The nightglow was a huge sucess on Saturday evening with thousands in attendance and for the first time at Billing Aquadrom we had Balloons inflated during the glow.

About 15 balloons took off between the Showers on Sunday morning heading towards the east of Northamptonshire.

The next pilot briefing is at 6pm, remember, if you have any pictures from this years event, please e-mail them to web@thenorthamptonballoonfestival.co.uk

Around 20 balloons took to the skies of Northamptonshire this morning as the Northampton Balloon Festival kicked off it’s third year at Billing Aquadrome.

With light surface winds taking the balloons to the south east of the county, it really was a sight to see.

If you have any pictures from the morning please email them to web@thenorthamptonballoonfestival.co.uk and we will get them on the website.

The next pilot briefing is at 18:00

Only 2 days remain until the Northampton Balloon Festival 2011 gets underway at Billing Aquadrome.

Have you ever wondered why Balloons only fly first  thing in the morning or a few hours before sunset? Or what sort of fuel does the Balloon use to keep it in the air?

Well look no further, we have put together a Frequently Asked Questions page to give you some inside knowledge of how ballooning works.

With only weeks to go until The Northampton Balloon Festival, Billing Aquadrome has announced a reduction in Car Parking charges for this years event.  At the start of the year Billing Aquadrome confirmed the cost of a Car to park (up to 5 people) was £15 and has been reduced to £10!

Daily admission rates for 19th / 20th / 21st August to include both shows

Pedestrians Adults £5
Child 5-15 yrs £2.50
Vehicles (all prices include passengers and secure parking)
Car (up to 5 people max) £10 (reduced from £15)
MPV (Up to 8 people max) £25
Camping Pitches available for the w/e starting at £70 inc admission charges

THIRTY hot air balloons, including the world’s largest, have already signed up for next month’s Northampton Balloon Festival.

The annual event, in its 22nd year, will be held at Billing Aquadrome for the third time.

Around 40,000 visitors are expected to watch the twice daily spectacle of the balloons launching into the sky over the three days.

Balloons have been launching over the past few weekends over the skies of Northampton in preparation for the festival between Friday, August 19 and Sunday, August 21. Read the rest of this entry »

With less than 70 days until The Northampton Balloon Festival kicks off at Billing Aquadrome, the Balloons Booked to Attend page of the website has been updated.

It shows a selection of the Balloons that are to take to the skies of Northampton (weather depending of course!) between 19-21 August 2011.

Taking part this year is the popular Palletways Dragon Shape balloon, BT, New Holland Agriculture and Omega Resources Balloons just to name a few!

Why not take a look for yourself here

Remember, the whole event will be kept updated on twitter @officialnbf