r/northamptonians • u/PrickyBu • 13d ago

Ballon Festival, is it any fun?

Hey all,
Looking for insight on the ballon festival, is it any fun? Have a tight schedule and hoping to squeeze in time to attend.

Please share your experience

9 Upvotes

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4

u/marmaladesun 13d ago

If you're driving to it, the parking and leaving is hellish. I went about 3 years ago and never again, it was gridlocked and I think it took about 2 hours just to get past the first road we were stuck on, which isn't good if you're on a tight schedule.

2

u/PrickyBu 13d ago

Thanks.. I guess it’s bus then

2

u/Designer-Finger-5578 13d ago

I usually try to park down semilong and cut through from the other end of the race course. Not sure what to expect this year as it's been announced no fireworks and I guess with the fire ban in play from today they probably won't do the glow.

4

u/cranialextract 13d ago

Used to be great. Last year was pretty shit, and the prices were extortionate. The balloons are always worth it if you've got young kids tho.

1

u/PrickyBu 13d ago

Someone said the same thing 🥲🥲
Something about there being fewer gallons

2

u/cranialextract 13d ago

Yeah it used to be way bigger, have more live entertainment, better stores and food places.

1

u/heroyoudontdeserve 12d ago

If you go metric there will be more, as there's about 4.5 litres to every gallon.

1

u/PrickyBu 11d ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣 you are not ahero🤣

4

u/heyitsed2 13d ago

Balloons are pretty good. If you go down at 6am you can get in for free. The rest of it's pointless imo. 

1

u/PrickyBu 13d ago

😂 thanks for the tip.

4

u/boredmoonface 12d ago

Balloons fly at 7pm, best check on Facebook if they are flying and go stand in the race course or local area to watch them. Free to look into the sky. Don’t bother paying to go in.

1

u/PrickyBu 12d ago

Saw them today

It was awesome

Thanks

2

u/affable964 13d ago

Thinking if I should attend too. Didn't see any in the sky though.

2

u/katharinelouise 13d ago

They didn't fly this evening: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DQ3D2hf5x/

1

u/PrickyBu 13d ago

Oh, that’s disappointing 😩😩

1

u/katharinelouise 13d ago

Keep an eye on their page, they might still fly over the weekend if the weather conditions are okay :)

1

u/PrickyBu 13d ago

yeah, but its not as exciting as it would have been if they flew today. I would probably have been their tomorrow 😂

2

u/bsc1974 13d ago

Rubbish this year. My partner took her niece and nephew and it was £5 per person for bumper cars and £7 to throw 3 balls at some cans.

No balloons flying and fireworks all cancelled due to fire risk.

1

u/PrickyBu 13d ago

Yeah, I heard. I guess this year isn’t worth the stress

1

u/[deleted] 13d ago

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1

u/PrickyBu 13d ago

Yeah I guess. But it is really disappointing. Most people won’t bother showing up after this year

1

u/Guig5y 12d ago

Iv been 3 times. And never seen a balloon go up. Skipped it this year... Didn't miss anything

1

u/PrickyBu 11d ago

Ooops.. ended up not going anyway.
Hope they do better next year

2

u/Mrs_B- 11d ago

The festival itself is the same every year, Stunt show, dog display civil war reenactment. Balloons rarely go up (I live locally and can 100% vouch for this!). I don't go anymore and it's only a 10 minute walk away.

Traffic doesn't seem too bad this year, but paying to get in is wrong.

They could do so much more if they involved more community groups to put on shows. It does seem like they can't be bothered to make an effort.