London hot air balloon festival 2025: Will the annual regatta actually happen this weekend?
The final standby date for the London hot air balloon festival is this weekend.
The Lord Mayor’s Hot Air Balloon Regatta has been absent from the city’s skyline over the past few years - but will it actually take place this weekend like planned?
If you’ve never seen the mesmerising spectacle, the Lord Mayor’s Hot Balloon Regatta festival sees up to 50 vibrant hot-air balloons float above across the city.
The event launched a decade ago and while is expected to take place annually, in that time has only officially taken place four times in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019.
The 2020 and 2021 were stood down amid the coronavirus pandemic while weather conditions meant the 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions could not take place.
For the 2025 Regatta festival three standby dates were put forward (May 11, July 20 and July 27).
The first two dates were stood down due to strong winds with the third and final proposed date scheduled for this weekend.
Aerial marketing company Exclusive Ballooning, who have helped run the event since 2015, typically confirm whether or not the flight will proceed as planned on their website and social media the Friday before the event.
Therefore London locals and visitors hoping to watch will have to wait a few more days to see if the event will go ahead as planned.
According to the Met Office, Sunday is expected to have wind gusts of up to 20mph by the early afternoon.
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