The Blog Of Ballooning Matters By A Budding Hot Air Balloon Pilot.
FEBRUARY 21, 2011
The Door Closes On Balloons Over Basingstoke
The popular event Balloons Over Basingstoke has been scrapped from the council’s event listing to be replaced by a cultural festival over a whole week long celebration. I who have been to the festival since i first found out about it back in 2001 am stunned that such a vibrant event with plenty of support has vanished. It proves no event is 100% safe. The years 2001-2006 saw great weather and most flights got away, but by 2007-2008 windy weather had put pest to the event and along with the foot n mouth outbreak nearby in surrey it had seen a shadow curse the event. 2009 saw new hope with some slots getting away Friday Am/Pm, Sunday Am/Pm with saturday being a damp affair. By 2010 A well advertised event had seen Heart Fm pull there finger out and support the event. http://www.heart.co.uk/berkshire/local/events/balloons-over-basingstoke/. Skypower who had run the event for some years taking on the realm from flying pictures had put alot of effort into the event, showcasing many of the Bpg Envelopes down the years ; Thomas(G-BXND), Financial Times (G-FTFT),Pete The Pylon (G-PYLN), many more. Churchill,Palletways,Nokia had seen there balloons attend the event and back in the late 90’s saw upto 60 balloons launch from the event, becoming one of the most popular events of its kind in the United Kingdom. The event which had seen some great arena entertainment over the years and expert commentary from the ballooning expert Trevor Graham. Heart Fm and 2 Ten Fm had put alot of effort into sustaining a event which would go onto make Basingstoke proud of. The famous friday nightglows would bring thousands of people into War Memorial Park to watch Balloons glow to music and fireworks. John Walls Funfair would attend the event every year and would attract thousnds to its rides..
2010 saw the final event and the massive advertising campaign had been welcomed by most and the event had 40 balloons booked in, but thats half the story the weather would have to help to make it a great weekend. The event which this year had been said to be going out to make all the stops to make sure it finished with a bang had seen a fresh lineup of funfair and also regular side stalls and bar area. Friday morning came and went with some balloons launching into the air with the press on the scene to witness Palletways new special shape balloon being operated by Christian Brown of Lindstrand balloons.. Video of that flight can be seen..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfS-JuFX4qE&feature=player_embedded. The weather couldnt hold out with drizzle and increasing winds putting hold to the evening flight with just 1 balloon being battled around for tethering and then the glow had 2 balloons being battered around these thankfully being go balloning’s shagged balloons. Saturday morning damp conditions and also upper winds being strong didnt help and flying was curtailed. During the morning the rain/showers was slow to move with heavy stuff mixed in. When i arrived at midday the clouds broke and there was some great sunshine and no-more rain by 5pm the fluffy clouds (cumulonimbus) had re-appeared and had seen the palletways round balloon g-ways getting caught in a gust and so the briefing came and then finished the announcement was met by anixious watchers who had there eyes on a shower cloud to the west. The next briefing was nerve wracking they put up one balloon to see what the wind was doing, 25 knots and the clouds around the region were decaying but some had some thermal stability and so therefore meant wasnt really great, another balloon decided to go and drop some parachutists. The day had seen over 4 balloons tether including, pattern balloon,agfa white,maxwell house, palletways. Adventure balloons who had seen the briefing really wanted to go and so were really pushing phil hossack- flight director to give the go ahead, but safety got the better of them. Video and special section on adventure balloons at the event can be found here.. http://www.adventureballoons.co.uk/basingstoke-balloon-festival.html. Sunday saw ideal conditions clear skies and warm sunshine saw 20 balloons launch from the park on sunday morning and the palletways balloon tethered. During the day appearances from the beer bottle and thomas, before a 15 strong team of balloons ending the event on a strong end to the weekend and the event itself..
Its a sad end to amazing event which had run for over 15 years and seen millions of people attend it over the period and also the event had gone from a balloon meet to 2nd biggest in uk, with more people wanting to attend. The cancellation shows the instability of councils and funding for events like this, it goes down the same street as Oxford,Southampton,Northampton(Old One @Racecourse)
The popular event Balloons Over Basingstoke has been scrapped from the council’s event listing to be replaced by a cultural festival over a whole week long celebration. I who have been to the festival since i first found out about it back in 2001 am stunned that such a vibrant event with plenty of support has vanished. It proves no event is 100% safe. The years 2001-2006 saw great weather and most flights got away, but by 2007-2008 windy weather had put pest to the event and along with the foot n mouth outbreak nearby in surrey it had seen a shadow curse the event. 2009 saw new hope with some slots getting away Friday Am/Pm, Sunday Am/Pm with saturday being a damp affair. By 2010 A well advertised event had seen Heart Fm pull there finger out and support the event. http://www.heart.co.uk/berkshire/local/events/balloons-over-basingstoke/. Skypower who had run the event for some years taking on the realm from flying pictures had put alot of effort into the event, showcasing many of the Bpg Envelopes down the years ; Thomas(G-BXND), Financial Times (G-FTFT),Pete The Pylon (G-PYLN), many more. Churchill,Palletways,Nokia had seen there balloons attend the event and back in the late 90’s saw upto 60 balloons launch from the event, becoming one of the most popular events of its kind in the United Kingdom. The event which had seen some great arena entertainment over the years and expert commentary from the ballooning expert Trevor Graham. Heart Fm and 2 Ten Fm had put alot of effort into sustaining a event which would go onto make Basingstoke proud of. The famous friday nightglows would bring thousands of people into War Memorial Park to watch Balloons glow to music and fireworks. John Walls Funfair would attend the event every year and would attract thousnds to its rides..
2010 saw the final event and the massive advertising campaign had been welcomed by most and the event had 40 balloons booked in, but thats half the story the weather would have to help to make it a great weekend. The event which this year had been said to be going out to make all the stops to make sure it finished with a bang had seen a fresh lineup of funfair and also regular side stalls and bar area. Friday morning came and went with some balloons launching into the air with the press on the scene to witness Palletways new special shape balloon being operated by Christian Brown of Lindstrand balloons.. Video of that flight can be seen..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfS-JuFX4qE&feature=player_embedded. The weather couldnt hold out with drizzle and increasing winds putting hold to the evening flight with just 1 balloon being battled around for tethering and then the glow had 2 balloons being battered around these thankfully being go balloning’s shagged balloons. Saturday morning damp conditions and also upper winds being strong didnt help and flying was curtailed. During the morning the rain/showers was slow to move with heavy stuff mixed in. When i arrived at midday the clouds broke and there was some great sunshine and no-more rain by 5pm the fluffy clouds (cumulonimbus) had re-appeared and had seen the palletways round balloon g-ways getting caught in a gust and so the briefing came and then finished the announcement was met by anixious watchers who had there eyes on a shower cloud to the west. The next briefing was nerve wracking they put up one balloon to see what the wind was doing, 25 knots and the clouds around the region were decaying but some had some thermal stability and so therefore meant wasnt really great, another balloon decided to go and drop some parachutists. The day had seen over 4 balloons tether including, pattern balloon,agfa white,maxwell house, palletways. Adventure balloons who had seen the briefing really wanted to go and so were really pushing phil hossack- flight director to give the go ahead, but safety got the better of them. Video and special section on adventure balloons at the event can be found here.. http://www.adventureballoons.co.uk/basingstoke-balloon-festival.html. Sunday saw ideal conditions clear skies and warm sunshine saw 20 balloons launch from the park on sunday morning and the palletways balloon tethered. During the day appearances from the beer bottle and thomas, before a 15 strong team of balloons ending the event on a strong end to the weekend and the event itself..
Its a sad end to amazing event which had run for over 15 years and seen millions of people attend it over the period and also the event had gone from a balloon meet to 2nd biggest in uk, with more people wanting to attend. The cancellation shows the instability of councils and funding for events like this, it goes down the same street as Oxford,Southampton,Northampton(Old One @Racecourse)
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The Door Closes On Balloons Over Basingstoke The popular event Balloons Over Basingstoke has been scrapped from the council’s event listing to be replaced by a cultural festival over a whole week long...
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