The 52nd Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships will take place in the skies above Tullamore, Co. Offaly from the 21st to the 27th of September. All launch sites will be confirmed nearer to the event but, flights will be taking place over the beautiful town of Tullamore throughout the week – weather permitting.
Planned Flights (all flights are weather permitting) –
Saturday 21st September: PM only
Sunday 22nd to Friday 27th inclusive: AM and PM
AM Flights – They aim to be in the air at approx. 07:30 however, this time may vary by an hour or so either side depending on the weather each morning, preparation for launch will commence approx 45 minutes before take-off.
PM Flights – They aim to be in the air at approx. 17:30 however, this time may vary by an hour or so either side depending on the weather each evening, preparation for launch will commence approx 45 minutes before take-off.
Pilots participate in a briefing with the Championships Director prior to each planned flight (at approx. 6:30 am & 4:30 pm) where a fly/ no fly decision will be made. As soon as this decision is made, a post will be put on the official Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships Facebook page only – the website and this Event will NOT be updated during the meet – with the information you need. They will endeavour to give as much notice as possible of all their plans but please be aware, a lot of the time, decisions and the time scale in which they can make them, are out of their control however, they will usually be able to give approx. an hour’s notice of a planned launch. Flights are normally around an hour in duration and they hope to have as many as 25 balloons in the air per flight.
Please make sure you “like” and “follow” the official Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships Facebook page in order to get the update notifications however, they are aware that sometimes, Facebook won’t advise you of a notification at all/ in time for you to read prior to a launch so, they always advise you check yourself around 6:45 am and 4:45 pm. If you can’t see an update on the Facebook page, it may be that they haven’t yet been able to make a decision so please do check back again in a few minutes. They will always keep you updated with information as soon as we have it.
The public are actively encouraged to come out and see the balloons as they launch. The balloons will make a spectacular display in the skies over Tullamore so bring your camera. The attraction of so many balloons flying can be mesmerizing, so we issue a note of caution to be mindful of traffic and road users while enjoying the spectacle! It is not possible to provide flights to the public during the week however it is a fun, social event for everyone’s enjoyment so get your cameras ready and record your favourite shots for the album.
Ballooning is 100% weather dependant and subject to quite strict weather conditions; it’s not always possible to tell if the weather is suitable without a full meteorological forecast which is obtained just prior to planning any flight. If it’s flyable, they will fly, if a no-fly decision is made, it is done so for very good reasons and with the safety of everyone involved at the forefront of the decision-making. Until the flight briefing, they will be unable to confirm if a flight will go ahead or not.
For more information on how and why ballooning is so weather-dependent, please see the “About Ballooning” page on their website – www.irishballooningassociation.com.
