Hot air balloons to serenade the skies above Bristol

Sky Orchestra flying over London in 2011
The Sky Orchestra - seen here over London in 2011 - will be performing for Bristolians at a date to be announced Credit: Luke Jerram

A flotilla of seven hot air balloons with speakers attached to their baskets is to perform “a massive musical dawn chorus” when it flies over Bristol sometime in July.

To make sure that crowds don't turn up to watch the launch, the date and time of the performance won't be announced until the balloons take off.

Bristol artist Luke Jerram hopes his Sky Orchestra will lift people's spirits. Credit: Luke Jerram

Sky Orchestra is an arts project by Bristol-based composer Dan Jones and Bristol artist Luke Jerram - famous for his Museum of the Moon, the Park and Slide event in Park Street and his "Play me, I'm Yours" street pianos. They have been planning the performance since the start of lockdown.

Luke Jerram says "As the city begins to unlock, I wanted a way to deliver an uplifting experience to people in their homes. Something spectacular, yet somehow intimate; to create a sense of renewal, hope and rebirth, to raise the public's spirits and mark a moment in time."


Sky Orchestra was first performed in the city at the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta in 2003, and in 2011 flew over the capital for the London Olympics 2012.

  • Watch Sky Orchestra being performed over London ahead of the 2012 Olympics

This July's performance over Bristol will have a whole new score. Dan Jones says, "We're bringing together some of Bristol's most successful musicians with future creators who are just emerging; Bristol continues to be a launchpad for musical innovation that spreads right around the world. This has been a great opportunity for all of us to thank Bristol as a continued source of inspiration."

The Sky Orchestra takes off at dawn in Switzerland Credit: Thierry Grobet

So if you live in Bristol and wake up to the sound of music rather than birds singing, you might just catch an amazing spectacle - "Sky Orchestra - A New Dawn for Bristol".

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