Every year in London, a fleet of colourful hot air balloons are planned to rise up and fly over the city. The Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta truly is a sight to behold – it’s not every day you see the blue sky peppered with colourful floating pods that float gently through the capital’s skies.
And that saying has truly been proved over the last few years, since the annual regatta has been plagued by bad weather and conditions and forced to cancel. Each year, a number of preliminary dates are given for the event to plan for bad weather, this hasn’t been enough to see the balloons take flight of late.
Last year, the event was once again forced to stand down on each day due to weather concerns of heavy rain. That means we’ve now got our eyes fixed to 2024, in hopes of seeing the balloons take to the sky, and the preliminary dates were named as July 7 (cancelled), 21 (cancelled), and 28 (cancelled). Yuuuuuup.
What’s the deal with all the dates and cancellations?
After the 2020 and 2021 events all fell to the same fate, which came due to a pandemic-induced cancellation, it was beginning to feel like we’d never see the flock of balloons again when 2022 and 2023 editions fell because of poor weather.
We never quite lost hope last year, though. The absolute final Hail Mary pass saw the possibility of October dates for the event. Unfortunately, all our dreams were dashed, and all of 2023’s dates fell through. The weather simply wasn’t on our side.
But it wasn’t , eh? We’ve now hit strike one, two, and three on the 2024 list, with hopes for a July 7 flight date scuppered by grey clouds and rain, and flights on July 21 & 28 also cancelled due to unsuitable wind conditions. The one piece of hope we can hold out for is another preliminary time being added, as was the case last year when the aforementioned extra October date was added (that, sadly, still did not go ahead).
When the hot air balloon regatta actually does take place, the whole thing kicks off pretty damn early, with a 5:30am set-off from Battersea Park. Hot air balloon fans would need to set a very early alarm to make sure they don’t miss a second. The official Lord Mayor’s Appeal hot air balloon leads the way, carrying both the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress. You’d spot them gliding over Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, and the London Eye – and it does look bloody lovely!
Up to fifty balloons take to the skies each year (when it actually happens), while the event raises funds and awareness for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal. You can keep an eye on the updates page for the procession here.
There are now no more standby dates for the Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta 2024. Keep an eye on their socials to find out the status on each scheduled event.