News / bristol balloon fiesta
‘We need to ensure Bristol Balloon Fiesta is relevant to Bristol today’
The executive director of Bristol Balloon Fiesta has said it’s time for the festival to be “more financially sustainable” and “relevant to Bristol today”.
Organisers behind the popular tourist attraction announced on Wednesday that this year’s festival would move to a three-day event instead of four days, in order to be financially viable in the future.
The not-for-profit event has seen huge cost increases since the pandemic caused by issues such as poor weather and supply chain challenges. Despite work to bring costs back down, organisers are still £100k short of their target for this year’s event.
is needed now More than ever
Ben Hardy, Bristol Balloon Fiesta’s executive director, told Bristol24/7 the “current challenging financial picture” felt like the right time for organisers to “refocus and reinvigorate” the direction of the Balloon Fiesta.
“The overarching theme that we have gone for is ‘Soaring to new heights’ which encapsulates everything around becoming more financially sustainable plus reinvigorating the festival so it’s relevant for Bristol today,” he said. “Being 46 years old, sometimes it’s easy to fall behind.”
Ben Hardy said the current financial picture is an opportunity to make Bristol Balloon Fiesta relevant for people in Bristol today – photo: Mia Vines Booth
Dan Mills, head of commercial and industry engagement at Visit West, said the fiesta was one of the most popular pages on the tourist board’s website.
It’s also a massive economic driver to Bristol’s local economy. For every £1 spent on Bristol Balloon Fiesta, it brings in £143 for the local economy.
Organisers have announced four “pillars” which they hopes to aim towards this year, as the Fiesta celebrates its 46th anniversary.
The pillars include ensuring Bristol Balloon Fiesta can fuel itself in the future, engaging communities moving forward, generating more excitement out of the experience, and becoming more progressive and sustainable.
The Fiesta will no longer begin on Thursday lunchtime, and instead will begin on Friday morning, with Thursday’s night glow moving to Friday.
This year, there will also be a “community launch” programme from Monday to Thursday as part of organisers’ commitment to make the Fiesta more accessible. The community launches were popular during the pandemic.
Bristol’s communities will be able to nominate launch sites across the city, as well as Bristol heroes to join pilots on community flights.
“In our Economic Impact research, we did some work around the demographic breakdown of those visiting us,” said Ben.
“While we’re performing well in some areas, we’re underperforming in others, and we feel it’s right that the Fiesta is accessible to every community in Bristol.
“We feel that by taking the Fiesta out to them, it will help us connect more easily and help explain to people that it is free and inclusive.”
“Bristol’s narrative has changed. It feels right for the Fiesta to make sure it’s relevant to Bristol now.”
Main photo: Plaster
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