Hot Air Balloons and Inflatables at Bristol International Balloon Fiesta 2026.

‍It’s that time of year again – The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta 2026 and it was a busy fiesta weekend for us here at Nova Inflatable Advertising.

Getting the green light on Friday morning for the first hot air balloon mass ascent of the event, at 6am, meant we were able to launch the brand new Send My Bag #FlyingSuitcase hot air balloon off on its maiden voyage, along with 86 other hot air balloons and what a stunning morning it was! We slowly drifted south from Ashton Court estate, the home of the event, for about an hour in the Supersized Suitcase hot air balloon and gently came into land in a beautiful field alongside lots of the other balloons.  What a spectacular way to give the Send My Bag balloon its first public appearance. It was seen by so many attending guests, captured in endless photographs and also on film for local and national news programs – it’s certainly a unique way of getting your brand name seen.

Returning to the fiesta with us for the second year in a row was our Kubicek 90, blue and white banner balloon, all dressed up with logoed banners for Bristol based building company Benchmark. We flew the Benchmark balloon in the Balloon fiesta’s press launch back on the 20th July, landing in the fiesta field at Ashton Court, and today it took to the sky from the arena, alongside the suitcase and our third balloon. The Benchmark hot air balloon also landed right next to the flying suitcase balloon, with just a hedge in between.

Finally the third Hot Air Balloon we were operating at the Balloon Fiesta this year is another brand new balloon, this one for the Google Gemini app. The balloon is beautifully multi-coloured balloon with a black mid-section with Google Gemini’s prompt on, the idea being if you saw it you would scan it in the app for more information on what you could do at this year’s fiesta! The Google Gemini app Prompt Balloon also took to the sky for its maiden flight on Friday morning alongside the other 86 balloons, again being captured in many photograph’s and on film for the news. As well as this Google’s advertising agency also had their own team on site recording the coverage they wanted to use in their campaigns.

Following the Friday morning flight, there was no time for rest – the afternoon tethering slot for the lunchtime news broadcast gave us a good opportunity to get yet more publicity for the Google Gemini app Prompt Balloon, and also provided Google’s advertising agency the perfect opportunity to get their chosen influencers, Sam Thompson, Millie Margot and Lirian Santoss, their chance to get up close and personal with the balloon and get their content filmed. Our team loved meeting the influencers and took the opportunity to get some cheeky selfies!

During the Friday afternoon tether slot unfortunately it was to thermic and gusty to get the Send My Bag #FlyingSuitcase balloon out to tether, so instead we set up the basket and burners, and were filmed for CBBC’s series ‘My First’ where the creators film young children experiencing things for the first time so parents and carers can show children who have never experienced these things what it will be like and what they can expect – look out for ‘My First Airshow’ coming to CBBC later this year! We love sharing and opening up the world of Hot Air Ballooning to children, they are after all the ones who will continue it for us!

6pm on Friday evening the green light was given to us again for another flight – this evening the Send My Bag #FlyingSuitcase took to the air again, delighting crowds of onlookers both at the fiesta site and across the city of Bristol, as it flew off out of a jam packed Ashton Court.

Once the Friday evening launch was completed our Benchmark and  Google Gemini app Prompt Balloons teams were able to set up for the world famous Bristol International Balloon Fiesta Night Glow. This part of the event sees hot air balloons inflate and glow to music once the sun has set and attracts crowds of hundreds of thousands of people. It truly is something very special and we think both the Google Gemini app Prompt and Benchmark Balloons looked stunning as they danced along to the soundtrack. We are sure photos and videos of us will be popping up on social media for months to come!

As well as all of the Hot Air Ballooning activity we had going on at the fiesta this year we also had some of our customers with their inflatable replicas at the event. The inflatable TrueStart Coffee carton replica was there with the TrueStart Coffee team, who were providing us balloonist with their lovely coffee and also had a stand in the Sky lounge.  And #AleinEnery had a stand being supervised by His Glorious Divine Benevolence, The Leader!  Which had a 3-metre inflatable replica of their AH20 can.

Saturday morning at the event saw all 3 balloons take another flight out of the arena over the packed crowds below. Unfortunately the evening flight slot was too windy for the #FlyingSuitcase to get airborne, but for the second time of the weekend both the Benchmark and Google Gemini app Prompt Balloons took part in the nightglow – again to a pack out Ashton Court Estate of hundreds of thousands of people all watching, taking photos and making videos and posting them on social media.

Finally on Sunday morning all 3 Balloons, Send My Bag’s #FlyingSuitcase, Benchmark and the Google Gemini app balloons, took to the sky, this time for the classic flight right across the centre of Bristol. This morning the #FlyingSuitcase offered the opportunity to two Young Bristol volunteers to have their first ever balloon flight, an experience they were not expecting! It was greeted on landing by the residents of Hanham who were very keen to get involved and help the team pack it away – we can’t thank you enough for the help!

On Sunday afternoon all three teams headed down to the afternoon ‘meet the pilot’ session, where the fiesta open the field and allow the public a chance to come and get into the balloon baskets, fire the burners, take photos (Yet again another way of getting your name or logo into photos which are shard far and wide) and talk to our teams. Unfortunately, the flight on Sunday evening flight was cancelled by the event as the conditions were just too windy for any ballooning activity to be safe – but what a weekend we have had!!

Do you want to know how we can help you to get your brand name out there at one of the biggest hot air balloon fiestas in Europe? One that gains coverage from both local and national news programs, films from influencers and hundreds of thousands of members of the public? From the extremes of extra-large flying suitcases to having your own branded ballon, a banner on a balloon or basket to a 3-metre inflatable replica of your product and almost everything in between please contact us to discuss your ideas and let us help you make them into a reality.