Hot air balloons take to the sky in mass ascent over Longleat in 75th anniversary festival

Hot air balloons ascended over Longleat on the morning of Friday 13 September to mark its 75th year.

Over 100 balloons rose through the mist and over the Wiltshire countryside at the Icons of the Sky 2024.

The festival is celebrating 75 years of Longleat House being open to the public.

The 6th Marquess of Bath opened Longleat House as a tourist attraction on April 1 1949 and it is now the home of the 8th Marquess and his family.

The event running until Sunday 15 September, features three days of flying spectaculars and balloon launches.

Visitors should be able to witness a mass assent of the hot air balloons twice a day, but challenging weather conditions meant an ascent was cancelled on Thursday 12 September.

Head of Operations at Longleat Scott Ashman, said weather conditions were "perfect" this morning.

"We saw balloons of different colours and shapes take to the skies.

"We are looking forward to the air display later and the night glow which is set to music from across the eight decades Longleat House has been open.

It follows Thursday evenings "night glow" where ten balloons, some shaped like coffee jars and dragons, used their burners to light up the grounds.

The night glows have been choreographed to a specially-selected soundtrack, with music from Glenn Miller through to Taylor Swift.

It also includes the Rolling Stones, who played the estate in 1964, and Sir Elton John, who appeared in 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Safari Park opening.

Features of the festival also include flyovers by the legendary Spitfire, aerobatics, wing walkers, pyrotechnic displays and much more.

The event is taking place all weekend, with tickets for Sunday, Saturday close to selling out.

Timings are subject to change due to weather conditions. Any changes to the schedule will be updated on Longleat's website.