We’ll have to keep our fingers crossed for this one. The hot air balloon regatta takes place every June, but since it remains at the mercy of the British weather, it can often be delayed at short notice. This was the case last year, with the skies not being in our favour, and 2020 didn’t fare much better, though it was lockdown that stood in the way. Nonetheless, we’ll get our chance to see a sky full of spectacular hot air balloons this year, as the regatta has four dates in the pipeline to hold the event — surely one, just one, of these days will be in our favour, right?
The dates it could go ahead are four Sundays: May 22, June 5, June 12, and June 19. As it is supposed to be summer, there’s a pretty good chance it should go ahead on one of these occasions.
Up to fifty balloons take to the skies each year, while the event raises funds and awareness for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal. Indeed, the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress head the procession in the leading balloon – which seems like a particularly risky canary in the coalmine strategy, if you ask me. You can keep an eye on the updates page for the procession here.
The whole thing is due to kick off at pretty damn early, with a 5:30am opening in Battersea Park, so set an alarm if you’re hoping to catch them. You might spot them gliding over Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, and the London Eye – and it does look bloody lovely when it actually happens!
Also published on Medium.
