BRISTOL INTERNATIONAL BALLOON FIESTA

Community, heritage, and hot air: how strategic messaging revived the Bristol Balloon Fiesta

1.5K+

pieces of coverage

1.5m

organic social media reach

500K

new website users

+25%

increase in yoy ticket
sales after press event

“I jumped at the chance to publicly recommend AMBITIOUS, kind, savvy, experienced and dedicated. You want this awesome group of people on your team.”

Sophie Abrahams
Richmond Event Management

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta is a free to attend, three-day event that celebrates the city and its heritage links to the remarkable world of hot air ballooning

INSIGHT

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, Europe’s largest ballooning event, was in jeopardy following the pandemic. Founded in 1979, the event attracts over 120 hot air balloons and more than 300,000 visitors annually. However, financial strain due to rising costs, poor weather, and inflation threatened the future of this cherished event.

The event needed a strategic review to ensure its survival while continuing to promote Bristol’s ballooning heritage on the world stage. Beyond the operational strategy review, a revitalised communications approach was essential — one that could combine a results-driven PR campaign with compelling storytelling.

Generate Revenue: drive sales through greater awareness of sponsorship opportunities, hospitality and car parking tickets, and trader applications
Reach New Communities: promote this as an accessible and inclusive event for all, ensuring all comms resonated across the city
Manage Expectations & Re-ignite Passion: celebrate the city’s ballooning heritage, while educating the public – mass ascents are the icing on the cake, but not guaranteed
Showcase Impact: highlight the importance of this event to the region to support future progress
Audiences: The event attracted a wide range of stakeholders, from the general public to local government and corporate sponsors. To understand how our messaging needed to resonate, we conducted a basic persona exercise focusing on different audience groups: Public & Visitors: Memory Makers, Experience Enthusiasts (Gen Z), Local Pride Advocates, and Tourists.
Corporate Sponsors & Donors: Those contributing financially to the event.
Local Authorities & Partners: Key stakeholders, including emergency services and agency partners.

IDEAS

We began by conducting a comprehensive review of the Fiesta’s positioning. Our strategy focused on revitalising the event’s messaging, celebrating its deep-rooted connection to the world of hot air ballooning and its unique ability to showcase the beauty of Bristol.

Our goal was to reintroduce a sense of magic and anticipation around the event, embracing the unpredictable nature of hot air ballooning and elevating it as part of the experience.

To bring this to life, we implemented a six-month communications programme rooted in both a storytelling-led content campaign and a robust PR framework. This included media relations, stakeholder and community engagement, content creation, and social media management.

Media Approach: We initially held a media briefing and press conference, explaining the event’s financial situation and plans for its revival. This was followed by 1-1 meetings with local media to understand their needs, building a collaborative relationship. As national media interest grew, we
maintained the same approach, treating all outlets equally and keeping everyone informed.

Community Launch Programme: Since Covid the Fiesta has started to see success engaging wider communities across the city through a series of community launches, we wanted to take this one step further. For this year, not only could the public vote on where they wanted to see balloons launch, they could also nominate their community heroes.

Start Early: Income generation and interest in the event had notoriously been last minute, reflecting last-minute booking trends across the event sector. We therefore started publicity six months in advance, to also follow the traditional ballooning season – as soon as the public could see balloons were in the sky, the Fiesta’s messaging could be heard – creating an instant connection between the sport, and its capital home.

IMPACT

Our strategy proved highly effective, delivering over 1,000 pieces of media coverage and significantly increasing social media engagement. The Fiesta attracted new sponsors and generated enquiries for 2025 partnerships. Financially, the in-year deficit was reduced to £15,000 in 2024, down from £100,000 in 2023, thanks to increased revenues from car parking and hospitality. The community’s passion was rekindled, with widespread public enthusiasm and nostalgia shared online.

Outputs:

1107 articles generated (242 broadcast hits and 865 print & online articles) across local, regional, national and international media

Outcomes:

Audience reach through media coverage of 6.8 billion
1.5 million reached organically through social media owned channels
14 community heroes given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly in a balloon

Outtakes:

Half a million new website users

Impact:

Significant reduction in complaints (less than 30 on social media)
A 25% increase in year-on-year ticket sales on the days following the city centre press event
Financially, the event’s in-year deficit was reduced to £15,000 from £100,000 in 2023.
Sponsor enquiries for 2025 began before the event weekend.
Shift in positive sentiment, with the event hailed as “the best yet”

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