Bristol Balloon Fiesta wows crowds despite no final mass ascent

A view over the balloon fiesta with balloons being lit up.

There was plenty of sunshine on the last day of the 2026 Bristol International Balloon Fiesta but, unfortunately, no final mass ascent.

However, the three-day-event had five successful mass ascents, with organisers describing it as an "unbelievable year".

Here are some of the highlights in pictures.

Many colourful balloons are seen flying over the outskirts Bristol and yellow/brown fields
A colourful balloon is inflating as it prepared to take off. Fire can be seen inside the envelope.

Lucky with the weather: Five out of six mass ascents took place this weekend.

Ben Hardy, the executive director of the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, said the team and balloonists "had a lot of fun" this year.

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Light up: Crowds were dazzled by the nightglows on Friday and Saturday evening.

A man is proposing to a woman in front of lit up balloons.

Congratulations: Jacob asked Poppy to marry him in the midst of the nightglow - and she said yes!

A view over Bristol and the channel with balloons above in different shapes and colours.

Day one: More than 80 balloons ascended over the Bristol sky, of all shapes and sizes, on Friday morning.

A scarecrow hot air balloon flying over a crowd of people.

Special shapes: Crowds got to see a variety of special shapes over the weekend, like this giant scarecrow.

The inside of a big blue and white hot air balloon. A man wearing a black T-Shirt is standing inside it.

One of the special shaped balloons was a huge, blue suitcase - this picture shows the scale of its interior.

The underneath of a cow-shaped hot air balloon flying in the sky.

Keep it moo-ving: This cow-shaped balloon was spotted in the air.

An aerial view of the entire Bristol Balloon Fiesta site showing parking areas, the crowd and dozens of balloons either in flight or about to take off

New additions: This year's festival featured several new special shapes, such as the suitcase and Astrina the Alien.

Two women smile as they embrace with hot air balloons tethered in the background at night

All smiles: The crowd at Ashton Court were thrilled by the nightglow.

A large crowd at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta hold up their phones creating hundreds of points of light in the darkness

Full house: Ashton Court was at full capacity by Saturday evening, which led festival organisers to close the site.

A row of hot air balloons glow in the dark as they are lit up by their burners.

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Original source Bristol Balloon Fiesta wows crowds despite no final mass ascent

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