The ascent that matters now
Open on the current ascent while balloons are airborne—or the most recent ascent otherwise—without a weekend of old landing reports obscuring the flight people are trying to follow.
About the tracker
Bristol’s balloons,made easier to follow.
Balloons Over Bristol is an independent, mobile-first companion for the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta—built to make the public flight-tracking experience clearer, richer and far easier to use.
Accuracy & data sources
Balloons Over Bristol is an unofficial, independent tracker. Flight reports may be delayed and the wind outlook is an estimate. Official launch decisions, timings and visitor information are provided through the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta’s own channels.
A local labour of love, built for real event use
The tracker was designed by Bradley James, who wanted the excitement of a mass ascent to be clearer on the small screen most visitors actually carry.
It brings together recognisable balloon names, Bradley’s own photographs and credited photos from MJ Ballooning, ascent filters, weekend totals and a visual wind outlook.
What it already does
Built around the questions visitors actually ask
Follow the latest ascent, recognise a balloon and explore where the wind might carry a future flight—all from one phone-friendly view.
Postcode fly-over outlook
Compare the estimated wind direction and distance with a full postcode or postcode area, then see a five-balloon direction-match rating, nearby towns and an estimated arrival window when a fly-over looks plausible.
Find and follow one balloon
Search by a familiar balloon name or registration, choose the closest match and temporarily isolate that flight on the map. Clear the filter to return to the latest ascent instantly.
Recognisable names and photographs
Replace obscure flight codes with names people actually recognise and match confirmed balloons with credited photographs, including regular visitors and popular special shapes.
Live weekend totals
Turn public landing reports into a glanceable event summary: different balloons, reported landings, miles travelled, cumulative flying time, ascent slots and average flight distance.
A phone-first, installable experience
Designed for quick use in a field or at home, with clear touch controls, compact mobile layouts and simple instructions for adding the tracker to an iPhone or Android home screen.
How tracking works
The balloon markers and recorded landings displayed by Balloons Over Bristol are derived from publicly accessible BBF Official Flight Control records. A marker is a reported position, not a continuously known location; its last-update time is shown in the balloon details. Old active signals are hidden from the live view, while past landings remain available as records.
Forecasts & wind direction
Balloons travel with the wind, not along a fixed route. The green corridor and postcode rating are Balloons Over Bristol estimates based on underlying weather data from MET Norway, with Open-Meteo available as a configurable fallback, plus direction and distance from Ashton Court. Wind can differ at other heights; pilots may change altitude to find another stream, and conditions can change. The dashed green line is a possible future direction—not a track already flown, an official flight plan or a forecast endorsed by MET Norway. MET Norway data is credited under CC BY 4.0 and its applicable open-data terms.
Data, photographs & freshness
Reported flight positions and landings are separate from calculated outlooks. Postcode locations come from Postcodes.io, with backup lookup services if needed; the map uses OpenStreetMap tiles and can use a configured CARTO fallback. Balloon identities are matched to the available registration records, with unknown registrations left unconfirmed. Photograph credits stay with the images. The tracker checks for fresh data regularly and labels saved information when a live source is unavailable; weather-based estimates pause when the wind reading is unavailable or too old.
Enjoy the view safely
This is spectator information, not aviation or navigation guidance. Follow official Fiesta announcements and instructions first. If you go to see a balloon, stay out of private or restricted areas and use normal road and pedestrian care. Forecast paths and arrival times are only possibilities, never a reason to rush or enter an unsafe place.
Privacy & independent status
The tracker does not request your device’s location. If you enter a postcode, it is sent to the site for a lookup with postcode-data providers; the lookup result may be cached to keep the service working. A postcode is included if you choose to share a result link. Standard site analytics are enabled. Balloons Over Bristol is independently operated and is not affiliated with or operated by Bristol International Balloon Fiesta.
Back to the sky
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