Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, the biggest ballooning event in Europe, is a yearly event held in the grounds of Ashton Court Estate in Bristol in August.

With 850 acres of parkland, including deer parks, trails for walking and cycling and, a mountain bike trail, Ashton Court Estate offers the perfect backdrop for the Fiesta; on the way to the arena where the main events are staged, visitors have the chance to see Ashton Court Mansion, nowadays used as a weddings and conferences venue.

The party atmosphere is completed by a number of fairground rides, food stalls and trade stands attracting a large number of visitors to the Fiesta. Running from Friday to Sunday, the event includes Mass Hot Air Balloon launches at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. evening launches on Friday and Saturday at 9.00 p.m. when balloons are lit up before taking to the sky (weather permitting) followed by a fireworks display.

It takes about 20 minutes to walk from Bristol city centre to Ashton Court Estate; for visitors using public transport, there are shuttle buses running at 10 minutes intervals between Bristol Temple Meads railway station and the site of the Fiesta; they also stop in the city centre, so visitors could combine a visit to the Fiesta, with a look around Bristol and all it has to offer. An area of the estate is transformed into a campsite for people who want to stay the night to see the early morning launches. To entertain the crowds during the day, there are a number of attractions like wing-walkers, parachute displays, model aircraft displays and fly-pasts.

There are also helicopters available, offering the chance to visitors to experience a short helicopter flight over Bristol. But what people come to see are the balloons: driven into the arena on the back of trucks, they are slowly inflated before a wind assessment is taken to make sure that it is safe to fly.

The flight path takes the balloons over Bristol and its famous Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Together with traditional balloons, there are special shaped balloons with some favourites returning year after year and, new being added all the time, to the delight of young and the young at heart.

The Fiesta and its colourful balloons are very popular with photographers, with plenty of opportunities to take pictures of the process involved in getting the balloons off the ground, and the attractions that makes the Fiesta one of the biggest event of the summer calendar in the UK.

If you are not scared of heights and fancy a balloon ride during the Fiesta you can join a number of companies selling flights on the day and experience the Fiesta from the air surrounded by colourful balloons.