The team are now recovering from a very busy weekend at the 2025 Bristol Balloon Fiesta where we had our first collaboration with MJ Ballooning.

For those who don’t know MJ Ballooning is a group ran by Bristolian Matt Joyce, a balloon enthusiast with a passion for special shape balloons. Matt has an impressive fleet of thirteen special shapes, many of which are still airworthy. Check out his website here. https://www.mjballooning.com/

Matt reached out to us earlier in the year with a proposal for a team up at a couple of events. He asked to us to fly his special shape Orange Segment balloon G-CDXW and tether some of the others in his collection. All special shape balloons are unique and challenging to fly so we readily agreed.

Team members Jamie, Liam G, Liam T and Reanna made the journey down to Bristol on Thursday the 7^th of August 2025 to setup camp. The weather for the weekend was looking really positive with several flights looking possible. The first alarm was set for Friday at 0400 hours.

The first morning was a little chilly but we soon warmed up shifting around the 210KG of fabric which makes up G-CDXW. The balloon was built in 1993 but is still airworthy thanks to Matt. We got the balloon set up next to another of Matt’s balloons, Slick the dragon and the plan was to fly them side by side. G-CDXW has a Velcro panel deflation system which is secured via two locks and then tied in with high tensile string. Once this is done the balloon is like any other aside from one side being flat to represent the slice in the orange.

Very soon we got the green light to fly and after taking part in the opening ceremony where all pilots fire their burners at the same time we started inflated. We soon had the balloon stood up next to Slick and finalised our preflight checks. Everything was good and we drifted off towards Keynsham. Despite its age the Orange flies well and is very responsive and easy to keep in the air. Its quirk due to it being flat on one side is that it spins around in flight more so than a normal balloon. Whilst it does have a turning vent, we found out it doesn’t really do anything!

We began to look for somewhere to land and spotted the Wellsway Sports Centre in Keynsham which had staff on site and big sports field at the back, a nice gentle descent and we were down safely and began packing up. A few families came over to say hello and it became clear that Matt and his group are well known to the people of Bristol and everyone appreciates the work they do.

After this we headed back to refuel the balloon and ourselves, team member Liam T introduced the rest of us to “Sandwich Sandwich,” a viral eatery in Bristol. They make fresh sandwiches which are nearly as thick as house bricks!

We then returned to site and attempted to inflate Matt’s Nivea balloon but sadly the wind was too strong and the towing eye in Matt’s van was dislodged so we pulled it down. After this we had dinner and settled down to watch the night glow. The nightglows at Bristol are fantastic with great choreography, they are a real treat to watch and a fantastic way to end day one. The forecast for the Saturday wasn’t looking as good but we were determined to do something so once again set the alarms for 0400 hours.

The second 0400 sounded all too soon and another look at the forecast indicated it wasn’t the best for flying an older balloon like the Orange. Due to this we agreed to tether Sonic the Hedgehog out of Matt’s collection after the main mass ascent had taken place.

This balloon is another made in the ninety’s and was very popular back in the day, touring events all over the world promoting the latest game at the time Sonic 2. Sonic Is very heavy but fairly straight forward to rig up as far as character balloons go. We soon had him stood up much to the delight of the early morning crowds. Matt also unveiled the newest balloon in his collection at the same time, the Phillips lightbulb. Sonic and the bulb used to be operated by Virgin Airship and Balloon Company back in the ninety’s so it was amazing to reunite them after thirty years.

After the tether we headed back into Bristol to visit Sandwich Sandwich again, we will now make this a yearly tradition. We then spent the rest of day resting ahead of what was looking to be a very busy Sunday. The forecast was looking promising for both flights plus the Special Shape tethering slot in the day, so for the final time the 0400 hour alarm was set.

The third 0400 hour alarm hit like a tonne of bricks but we knew the forecast was perfect and the field would soon fill up, so we headed out to get a good spot. More of our team also joined us from Northampton with Helen, Liam M, Craig, and his daughters all driving down.

Now familiar with the setup of the Orange we had it ready to go in no time and were out in the first wave. The conditions we light and variable with the wind changing direction near to the ground in various ways. Eventually, after several aborted landings and with very little fuel left, we were helped into the same field we landed in on our first flight thanks to Liam Whitelock and the Iris Balloon Team who pulled us in via our trail rope. We soon had the balloon down safely and set about packing up.

Sadly we didn’t have time for a third Sandwich Sandwich visit, or for eating at all as no sooner had we got back and refuelled it was time to get ready for the special shape tether. This time we were given G-LIPS to tether. A special shape made for Polaroid in the year 2000 to promote their latest product Joycam. The balloon comprises of a standard shape until you reach the top where it has a giant smiling mouth on each side. It is a unique balloon and was the first in the MJ Ballooning collection.

The winds in Ashton Court were very changeable and we had to abort our first attempt at inflating LIPS, but we managed fine on the second. We stood in a line with other greats from the past including Sonic and Thomas the Tank Engine. After the tether we needed to refuel again and then pack up our campsite ready for the journey home after the final flight.

The weather for the final flight was looking a little breezy to start but was dropping as the period went on. Due to this, we didn’t rush for a space and instead enjoyed watching the first wave head off. We then set up the Orange for one final flight and took off alongside Oggy the Dragon who was visiting from America. Due to the long journey home, we cut our flight short and landed after twenty-five minutes in a local park followed shortly after by Oggy. We took time to interact with the hundreds of spectators that were in the park with many jumping in the basket for photos.

We then packed up, refuelled, and dropped the Orange back to Matt before the long drive home getting back in the early hours of Monday morning.

What a weekend it was too, three flights, three tethers, two amazing Sandwiches, loads of heavy lifting and many new friends made. Our team and the MJ Ballooning team worked well together to put on a great show for the public which seemed to be very well received. We loved seeing all the photos and videos over the weekend, the public interaction was top notch. We are already looking forward to our next team up with MJ Ballooning at Longleat.

A massive thank you to all of our hard-working team members, to the MJ Ballooning team members, to the Iris Balloon Team members, the organisers, the other balloonists who helped out over the weekend, the public and everyone else who made the weekend amazing.

We are now looking ahead to our next event which is the Northampton Balloon Festival.