This September the skies above Tullamore, Co. Offaly will be filled with the beautiful sight of dozens of Hot Air Balloons, with the 51st Annual Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships taking place from Saturday afternoon 23rd September to Friday the 29th inclusive.

All launch sites, to include Charleville Castle, the Tullamore Show Grounds and Tullamore Town Park, will be confirmed nearer to the event, but flights will be taking place - weather permitting- every morning and later afternoons that week.

Around 20 ballooning teams from Ireland, USA, UK and mainland Europe are expected to take part in the Championship. This is a private event for hobby balloonists from all over the world and an amazing spectator sport for the public. Flights are due to take place from Saturday afternoon, and will then run through to Friday evening with two scheduled flights per day, launching in the mornings and late afternoons. Flights are 100% weather dependent. 

The event is run by the Irish Ballooning Association, the representative body for ballooning in Ireland, and is kindly sponsored and supported by Offaly County Council, Tullamore County Council, Butterfield Farm, the Charleville Estate and Heritage Trust and the Municipal Council. Event updates and daily flight information can be followed on facebook/IrishBallooningChampionships. 

It is fitting that the Annual Ballooning Championships take place in Tullamore as ballooning has a strong, though unfortunately not positive,  connection to the area. According to local history, in 1785, Tullamore fell victim to what is believed to be the first air disaster. A hot air balloon was taking off in the centre of the rural town and crashed into local homes, setting them alight. Reports from the time said that as many as 100 homes were engulfed by the blaze, completely destroying Patrick Street which was rebuilt from scratch. 

During the event a number of competitions will take place, including Hare and Hounds, Fly-in task, Long Distance Competitions and at the end of the week an overall winning team will be announced where, one Balloon & Crew are chosen as the overall competition winner.  This is not necessarily the team that wins the most tasks but more likely to be the team that demonstrates and promotes the event values of fun and friendship.

Ballooning is 100% weather dependant and subject to quite strict weather conditions.  Please note that flights can be cancelled at very short notice. 

For further information visit https://ballooningchampionships.ie and ensure to follow their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/IrishBallooningChampionship/ for the most up to date information on flights for this event.  

All FLY or NO FLY decisions will be announced on their Facebook page.