Another attempt will be made to fly upwards of 50 hot air balloons over central London later this year after the organisers were able to secure some extra dates.
(c) Lord Mayor’s Balloon Regatta
The Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta, a now annual event that raises money for the Lord Mayor’s charity, had tried to fly over London earlier this year, but each time the weather wasn’t favourable so they had to stand down the flights.
They’ve now received permission to attempt to fly over London on Sunday 1st and Sunday 22nd October.
The flight will proceed on the first date that the weather is suitable, and I will update this page with details closer to the date if the flights will go ahead, or if the weather yet again denies us the opportunity to watch them drifting in the skies.
The lift-off, if it takes place, will be at first light in the morning, so about 7am to 7:30am. If anything, that’s better for us, as their summer lift-offs would have been around 5am, so the October flights will prove less of a struggle to set the alarm clock and go out to watch.
Due to the pandemic, the 2020 regatta was cancelled, and due to weather conditions, the 2021 and 2022 editions could not proceed. So weather permitting, 2023 could be the first in three years.
Hopefully, they’ll head eastwards over the city, but that’s down to the wind direction on the day. Obviously, they can’t control the wind, so there’s an outside chance they’ll drift a bit more to the south or north than hoped for.
UPDATE – stood down for 1st October, next attempt on 22nd October.
UPDATE – stood down for 22nd October, next attempt in 2024.
It’s pretty and all that, and it’s for charity, but not exactly green: burning gas to make the hot air, and the ground transport.