Bristol International Balloon Fiesta 2011

Wow, that was one hell of a day. The event was, to be honest, pretty dull to begin with. I'd never been before and it took a while to get going. The 'mass assent' was worth the wait, but the real gem of the show was the 'night glow'. This is where they tether the balloons to the ground and wait for night fall. They they fire the burners on load of balloons in time to music, with a firework finale. Very impress.

However, the event was marred in two ways for me. So badly in fact that I doubt I would go again. They were...

1) Appalling management of the parking. The online booking of spaces and the marshalling of traffic when we arrived was handled very professionally. However, after the event the experience took a nasty turn for the worse. I don't know if staff just left or if they expected 1 person to manage a car park with hundreds of cars. Either way it was a nightmare. Parking was in a field the same as you would expect at a car boot sale. We had been parked in rows, but there was nothing to stop people driving in a straight line to the exit, and this is what they did. This made the people who had formed an orderly queue quite upset. In the end members of the public took it upon themselves to marshal the traffic and regain order. A big thank you to Andrew and friends for stepping up to the task.

2) There were at least three attention seekers at the event with laser points who though it fun to shine them on the balloons. Continuously. Grow up.

Anyway, here are some photos from the event...

More photos from the event can be found on my Flickr photostream here.