British Balloon Museum and Library

23/06/2026

Helping out Phil Brewster and the team at ITV News Central with their coverage of the inaugural Leicester Balloon Festival!

23/06/2026

Happy National Pink Day!

How will you be celebrating this day of all things Pink?

Will you enjoy a Pink Gin, give that special someone some Pink Flowers, dye your hair Pink or fly a Pink Pig Balloon over Battersea Power Station like Pink Floyd in 1976? The pig got loose from its moorings and caused mayhem, including temporarily halting flights at Heathrow!

However you decide to celebrate, we hope you are in the Pink and wish you the Pinkest of days!

19/06/2026

Check out ITV News Central from 6pm this evening!

19/06/2026

A very big thank you to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for supporting our work to build the British Museum of Ballooning.

If you would like to help us continue this important work, find out more about us and get in touch here: https://ow.ly/o7AZ50Vlkc4

The National Lottery Heritage Fund Tnluk

18/06/2026

A fantastic photo captured from over 50 years ago of one of our collection balloons Chieftain!

With the theme of this month’s campaign being ‘Colourful’, we found this photograph of the Army Air Corps Blue Eagles display team doing their stuff at Middle Wallop in September 1974.

16/06/2026

Look out for Jamie & Jonathan and their respective teams who will be representing the BBM&L at the inaugural Leicester Balloon Festival this weekend!

Fingers crossed for good weather and lots of ballooning!

Molly Mae Ballooning Butlers Hot Air Balloon Team Vista Balloon Flights

15/06/2026

On this day, 15th June 1785, Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and co-pilot Pierre Romain (the builder of the balloon) attempted to fly from France to England.

The hybrid principle of a Roziere balloon was devised by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier for use in an attempt to cross the English Channel.
Unfortunately, the combination of hydrogen and a naked flame used to heat the lower portion of the balloon was disastrous, and both were killed when the balloon caught fire.

Find out more about the history of ballooning on our timeline: https://ow.ly/6f7s50Z7xes

12/06/2026

Where can I see the items collected by the museum?

The balloons are based at locations in the United Kingdom and frequently attend balloon meets. Special events are occasionally organised by the British Balloon Museum & Library, such as the meet at the Cardington Airship hangar, which saw a world indoor ballooning record attempt.

Every two years, the British Balloon Museum & Library hold an Inflation Day where old balloons are inflated.

There is a display in the reception area of Cameron Balloons Ltd, in Bristol, which includes many artefacts, large and small, plus photographs.

And of course, you can see pictures, videos, and learn more about the items on our website: https://ow.ly/21rL50W5m0P

10/06/2026

BBM&L on tour 2026 has officially begun with our first stop of the year at the Midlands Air Festival!

As per our previous post, the team enjoyed a fabulous weekend at Ragley Hall with Angela on the BBM&L stand, Peter flying the flagship balloon and Jonathan tethering the Servo Connector Special Shape!

A huge thank you to James, Trevor and the rest of the team for putting together a fantastic weekend of all things aviation!

A further thanks below to MJ Ballooning & Colin Wright for the photos of the Servo shape tether on Saturday morning.

Standby for details of our next stop!

04/06/2026

We have put together a page of links to other organisations, including the British Balloon and Airship Club (BBAC), the regulatory body of UK ballooning, Airship Heritage Trust and Farnborough Air Sciences Trust, to name just a few. If you are interested in Ballooning and aviation, check it out today.

Find out more here: https://ow.ly/mEVh50VIVCC