OB Balloon Festival 2024
Our 2024 Harvest Balloon Festival event promises to be bigger and better than before!
Join us from 9th -11th August for our three-day festival hosted in one of Norfolk’s most beautiful countryside campsites and park. A fun-filled weekend for everyone full of activities from live music, street food, BBQ Grill, beer festival, children’s entertainment, ballooning equipment and memorabilia up close and much, much more. If the British weather allows you will also see morning and evening hot air balloon flights taking off from our park and our stunning night glow!
With this family & dog-friendly event kicking off at 10.30am Friday 9th August, Old Buckenham Country Park welcome you to their fourth annual Harvest Balloon Festival with an impressive line-up of national and local bands, musicians, circus acts, aviation display, craft stalls, children’s entertainment, dinosaurs (you will understand when you see them!), live commentary and fingers crossed the sight of balloons flying and glowing through the summer skies. Four-day camping tickets are also available so why not stay on site and enjoy the festival with only a very short walk to your bed at night.
In 2022 onlookers were lucky enough with coffee in hand from on-site OB Café to see the spectacle of 17 balloons take off from 5:30am with the summer sun shining behind them on both mornings. Keep an eye out for live flight updates on socials across the weekend and to get the most out of your tickets the OBCP team encourage you to set your alarms and arrive bright and early to witness up close the once in a lifetime, breathtaking hot air balloons take off right in front of your eyes.
Ballooning is highly dependent on weather conditions and in the event of unsuitable weather conditions balloon flights and activity may be cancelled however there will be plenty of other activities and entertainment over the weekend to enjoy whilst sitting by the lake or exploring the site with family and friends.
Future hot-air balloon flights from our park or local take-off spots can be purchased at the event, however there will be no flights available to purchase for the festival. Scheduled ballooning activity to include; Flights Fri/Sat/Sun evening and Sat/Sun morning; Night Glow Fri/Sat evening; and tethering throughout the day Fri/Sat/Sun. Please note there is no morning flight scheduled Friday and no night glow scheduled Sunday. Timings and further details will be advertised in due course on our website and socials.
Tickets are non-refundable and day entry tickets cannot be transferred to alternative day once purchased.
For further ticket information and policies please refer to our Ticket Policy.
Follow Old Buckenham County Park on Instagram for all event updates, line-up announcement and the opportunity to win a flight in the lead up!
Weekend Tickets
This ticket will give you access to the Balloon Festival all weekend. Join us anytime from Friday 9th August (gates open at 10:30am) and enjoy lots of interactions, live music, street food and much more. Gates open earlier at 5:30am on both Saturday and Sunday. This ticket will allow you to come and go as you please all weekend with a wristband for fast re-entry (no need to queue again!).
Weekend tickets are £32 for adults and £15.95 for children (aged 5 – 16). Children under 5 are free.
Day Tickets
This ticket will give you access to the Balloon Festival for your selected day on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Gate opening times: Friday 10:30am, Saturday and Sunday 5:30am. Enjoy lots of interactions, live music, street food and much more. This ticket is only valid for the specified day and cannot be transferred so please select correct entry day or select weekend tickets for unlimited entry Friday – Sunday.
Day tickets are £15.95 for adults and £7.95 for children (aged 5 – 16). Children under 5 are free.
Electric Camping Pitches
This ticket will give you an electric camping (standard 16 amp) pitch. Campers are welcome to join us from 12pm Thursday 8th August for 4 nights departing Monday 12th at 11am. You will have full use of our onsite amenities including toilets, showers and drinking water. The ticket also includes Balloon Festival entry for 4 guests including children. Please note that pitches will not be allocated prior to your arrival and we are unable to guarantee neighbouring pitches for this event, so if you wish to camp with another group we suggest arriving on site together. Dogs are also welcome.
Electric camping tickets are £175.00.
Non-Electric Pitches
This ticket will give you an non-electric ‘wild’ camping pitch. Campers are welcome to join us from 12pm Thursday 8th August for 4 nights departing Monday 12th at 11am. You will have full use of our onsite amenities including toilets, showers and drinking water. The ticket also includes Balloon Festival entry for 4 guests including children. Please note that pitches will not be allocated prior to your arrival and we are unable to guarantee neighboring pitches for this event, so if you wish to camp with another group we suggest arriving on site together. Dogs are also welcome.
Electric camping tickets are £155.00.
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Can I purchase tickets at the gate or anywhere else?No. Tickets are available in advance only via our website only, do not attend without a valid ticket. Only tickets purchased through our website will be valid - please be mindful of fraudulent ticket sales from outside sources.
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Do I have to select a ticket for my child/children who are free (under 5)?Yes, please select tickets for all children attending, even if under 5 years old . For children under 5 we only have one ticket type which will allow free entry for any single day or for the whole weekend. For children 5-16 years old there are two ticket types to select, day or weekend.
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Where is the car parking and is it free of charge?Yes! Car parking is free of charge and we have a number of car parks this year with entry/exit gates. These will be manned throughout the festival at all times to ensure a safe and swift entry and exit. Disabled parking spots are also available. Keep an eye out for direction signs around the neighboring villages as we can be difficult to find to those unfamiliar.
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Can I swap my day ticket to another day?No, day entry tickets are non-transferrable therefore cannot be transferred to alternative day once purchased. If you are unsure of when you can attend our weekend tickets are great for flexibility.
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Can I have a refund if the weather doesn’t allow balloon activity?Tickets are non-refundable. Ballooning is highly dependent on weather conditions and in the event of unsuitable weather conditions balloon flights and activity may be cancelled however there will be plenty of other activities and entertainment over the weekend to enjoy.
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What time can I enter on a day ticket?Friday 9th August gates open at 10:30am. Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th gates open at 5:30am (in readiness to witness the magical morning flight if weather allows).
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Can I leave the site and return?Yes, on entry when handing in your ticket you will be given a wristband which will vary depending on your ticket type. This will allow you to re-enter and skip the que’s when returning. All we ask is that you clearly display this and await a member of staff to confirm your entrance to avoid any question or hold up.
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Can I have a balloon ride at the festival?Unfortunately no balloon rides for the festival dates can be purchased however, we will be releasing competitions on our socials in the lead up to the event where you could win the opportunity to fly at our festival or on a future date, so be sure to follow us! Future hot air balloon flights can be purchased through Broadland Balloons who will have a stand at our festival on the weekend or via their website www.broadlandballoons.co.uk. Our park is one of their take off sites along with other local options.
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What days/times are the flights and glows scheduled?If the British weather allows we plan to fly (take off from site) Fri/Sat/Sun evening and Saturday/Sunday mornings and the times can vary with any time from 5:30am for morning flights and 5:30pm for evening flights. Our night glows are scheduled for both Friday and Saturday evening around 9pm. There is no scheduled flights Friday morning or night glow Sunday night.
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What shall I bring with me as a day guest?We recommend that in hot weather conditions you bring sun cream, hats and umbrellas for shade as we are a very open site, and if like 2022 we experience another heat wave we want our guests to be as safe as possible at our event. Unfortunately we cannot allow gazebos as these could obstruct views and guidelines being unsafe in the darker hours. We have a number of drinking water taps on site so empty bottles can be brought with you to refill as you wish. We suggest suitable footwear with our site being mostly grass which in bad weather can become muddy. We do not permit any drinks or food to be brought into this event and we do have the right to search bags and confiscate anything we believe to be so which can be collected on departure.
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Can I bring my dog to the OB Balloon Festival?Yes, you are welcome to bring well-behaved dogs to OB Balloon Festival for free. Please always keep them on a lead and come prepared to pick up any messes they might make. Please be aware there is a lot of activity and noise I.e. funfairs, live music and arena display.
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Is the OB Balloon Festival suitable for children?This is a family orientated event. The hot air balloon tethering and mass launches are also extremely popular with children of all ages.
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Are there toilets/facilities on site?Yes there are plenty of toilets and facilities available including disabled toilets, baby changing facilities and drinking water taps around the park.
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If camping, can we leave our car at our pitch?Unfortunately due to space and safety we cannot allow cars to be parked at your pitch. However campers will be allowed to drive to their pitch upon arrival to unload their belongings before being kindly asked to move their vehicle to a nearby site carpark.
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If camping, what time is check-in/check-out?Campers are welcome to arrive from 10am on Thursday 8th August. Check-in will be required at the main site entrance office. If unable to arrive on Thursday, you can still check-in on Friday 9th August from 10am. Check-in is unavailable on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th. Check-out is on Monday 12th August by 11am and we ask you to leave your pitch as you found it.
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If camping, can I arrive earlier in the week?Unfortunately we are taking no camping bookings from Monday 5th August in the lead up to the festival, to allow us to prepare the site ready for the event. Camping tickets are available from Thursday 8th August to Monday 12th August - you can extend your stay from 12th August onwards - please contact us direct to arrange this once you have purchased your festival camping tickets.
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If camping, are the camping pitches just for tents?No, we welcome all tents, caravans, motorhomes and campervans on both electric and non-electric pitches.
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Is glamping available?Unfortunately there is no glamping available over the festival weekend.