Northampton Balloon Festival
Encyclopedia
The Northampton Balloon Festival is an annual hot air balloon festival held in the English
town of Northampton
.
The original festival was held in the Racecourse park and managed by the Borough Council, and took place over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday in mid-August. The main features of the festival were the twice-daily hot air balloon
lifts, but other attractions included trade stalls, live music and arena entertainment.
In 2003 the festival was joined with the Northampton Town Show (previously held during July) to become the Northampton Festival, but has since reverted to its original name.
The 2004 festival featured the Sugababes
, Big Brovaz
, and Ronan Keating
.
The 2005 festival featured Rachel Stevens
and Lemar
.
The 2007 festival was a disaster due to poor attendance caused by bad weather on the last two days and the fact that the council decided to charge adults for admission, which discouraged many adults without young children from attending and spending money at the stalls.
The 2008 festival was scaled down from before, with fewer stalls,
and featured Rick Astley
and Signature
but neither were able to revive the festival's fortunes and the event made a huge loss.
The borough council ceased its funding and in mid 2009 the festival was revived by new organisers and moved to Billing Aquadrome
. It took place 14–16 August 2009 at the new location with free admission.
The 2010 Northampton Balloon Festival was once again based at Billing Aquadrome, however that year the organisers chose to charge entry.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
town of Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
.
The original festival was held in the Racecourse park and managed by the Borough Council, and took place over a Friday, Saturday and Sunday in mid-August. The main features of the festival were the twice-daily hot air balloon
Hot air balloon
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
lifts, but other attractions included trade stalls, live music and arena entertainment.
History
The first festival was held in 1990.In 2003 the festival was joined with the Northampton Town Show (previously held during July) to become the Northampton Festival, but has since reverted to its original name.
The 2004 festival featured the Sugababes
Sugababes
The Sugababes are an English pop girl group based in London, consisting of members Heidi Range, Amelle Berrabah and Jade Ewen. The Sugababes were formed in 1998 with founding members Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan. Their debut album, One Touch, was released in 2000 under London...
, Big Brovaz
Big Brovaz
Big Brovaz were an R&B / Hip hop music group from London, England in their seven year career they released two studio albums and eight singles. There were three line up changes with two of the original members leaving half way through shaking up the dynamics of the group...
, and Ronan Keating
Ronan Keating
Ronan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...
.
The 2005 festival featured Rachel Stevens
Rachel Stevens
Rachel Lauren Stevens is an English singer-songwriter, actress, presenter, dancer, television personality and model. She is a former member of the successful pop group S Club, and launched a solo recording career in 2003, releasing seven singles and two albums in the UK between 2003 and 2005...
and Lemar
Lemar
Lemar Obika , professionally known simply as Lemar, is an English recording artist. Obika has had a run of chart success in the UK, Europe and Australia...
.
The 2007 festival was a disaster due to poor attendance caused by bad weather on the last two days and the fact that the council decided to charge adults for admission, which discouraged many adults without young children from attending and spending money at the stalls.
The 2008 festival was scaled down from before, with fewer stalls,
and featured Rick Astley
Rick Astley
Richard Paul "Rick" Astley is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries...
and Signature
Signature (dance group)
Signature are an English dance group which consists of British Pakistani Suleman Mirza and British Indian Madhu Singh. Their notable style of dance is British Bhangra and they frequently base their performances around Michael Jackson songs, such as "Billie Jean" and "Thriller"...
but neither were able to revive the festival's fortunes and the event made a huge loss.
The borough council ceased its funding and in mid 2009 the festival was revived by new organisers and moved to Billing Aquadrome
Billing Aquadrome
Billing Aquadrome is a leisure park in Great Billing, in the eastern district of Northampton, England. Facilities within the 235-acre park, which is based around various mature gravel pits, include a caravan site, marina and funfair...
. It took place 14–16 August 2009 at the new location with free admission.
The 2010 Northampton Balloon Festival was once again based at Billing Aquadrome, however that year the organisers chose to charge entry.
External links
- The Official Website of The Northampton Balloon Festival
- Enjoy the sight of balloons flying from the festival with a flight with The Ballooning Business Limited
- BBC guide to the Balloon Festival
- Northampton Balloon Festival Website - Picture gallery of past festivals
- American Auto Club International