Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta

The Lord Mayor’s Appeal Hot Air Balloon Regatta, London
Following the success of the 2015 Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta, we are delighted to announce that this will now become an annual event.

The dates for the 2016 Regatta are June 5th, 12th, 19th or 26th.

Due to the weather dependant nature of this event, the Balloon Regatta will be on standby on each Sunday throughout June, with an official weather call being made each week. The Regatta will proceed on the first date where the weather is suitable.

Fifty hot air balloons will be invited to participate in this event which aims to raise funds and awareness for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and the City of London.

Pilot applications for this event will open on January 13th 2016 at 1pm.

The 2015 Balloon Regatta
The inaugural Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta took to the skies of London on Sunday 7th June 2015.

At 5:15am, forty balloons launched from Shoreditch Park and headed for the City. Flying over the Thames, the balloons flew between Tower Bridge, The Shard and Canary Wharf, with The Tower of London and the 02 arena also clearly visible.

The iconic London skyline was filled with this unique sight for over an hour, with many people on the ground posting and tweeting pictures of the unexpected sight of the Regatta balloons. Throughout the morning #HotAirBalloons and #BalloonRegatta were trending on twitter.

Exclusive Ballooning
Exclusive Ballooning have a proven track record of helping to raise more than £7,000,000 for UK charities and the Lord Mayor’s Appeal has become the company’s focus for 2015 and beyond.

In January 2015, Exclusive Ballooning were invited to attend a hot air balloon event in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, home of the original 1831 London Bridge, with the dedicated and Exclusive Ballooning sponsored Lord Mayor’s Appeal hot air balloon. The balloon and team were guests of Michael McCulloch, grandson of Robert McCulloch, the founder of Lake Havasu and the original buyer of the Bridge.

During the event, British National Champion and Exclusive Ballooning’s Director; Andrew Holly was piloting the Lord Mayor’s Appeal hot air balloon and had the perfect flight, flying over the original London Bridge and then dipping slowly in the lake next to the bridge, simply floating there for several minutes to entertain the crowds next to and on the Bridge before flying up and out, over the London Bridge Resort.

Exclusive Ballooning has brought mainstream hot air ballooning into the heart of London over recent years with balloons at Buckingham Palace, the Tate Modern, the Guildhall, Exchange Square and famously flying underneath Tower Bridge for Disney in 2009.

Andrew Holly was himself bestowed the Freedom of the City for his work within marketing and fund raising with hot air balloons.