A group of hot air balloonists have got the green light from the council to host a small festival in a village on the outskirts of Bristol.
The first ever Snake Meadows Festival will take place in the field on the edge of Saltford on Saturday July 19. The family friendly festival will feature band the Miami Wave and tribute acts to Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, and Katy Perry — and a hot air balloon lift.
Bath Hot Air Balloon Club have been fighting for a year to make it happen but faced opposition from Saltford Parish Council. Now Bath and North East Somerset Council have granted the group of about 20 volunteers the licence to go ahead with the festival.
Jerry Davis of Bath Hot Air Balloon Club said: “We have been fighting the parish council for 12 months on this. Now we can move forward.”
The hot air balloon club is a not-for-profit organisation, which raises money for charities including Suicide Prevention UK and Saltford Primary School. It has been based at Snake Meadows, a field off the A4 just east of the village since January 2024.
Addressing Bath and North East Somerset Council’s licensing subcommittee on March 6 about the plans for the festival, Bath Hot Air Balloon Club’s Andy Morse said: “We are all about bringing the young generation, the new generation into hot air ballooning which has been seen as quite an expensive sport.”
But parish councillor Phil Hardy, local man Clive Buckley, and Saltford’s councillor on Bath and North East Somerset Council Duncan Hounsell (Liberal Democrat) also attended the meeting to urge the council not to grant the licence. They warned the entrance to the site was too narrow, and could lead to nuisance parking and difficulty evacuating the site if necessary.
Mr Morse said that the club had an emergency services plan in place, and hired professional security. He said: “Everything that’s been put to us as a recommendation we have put in place. […] We have put a lot of effort into working with the authorities to get this right.”
The club reduced their planned numbers down from 2,000 to 1,200 in light of the objections, and only plan to hold the festival one Saturday a year. Another balloon take off event with a similar number of people is planned for another time in the year, but would not be a festival or have licensable activities.
Chair of the licensing subcommittee Steve Hedges (Odd Down, Liberal Democrat) said it was one of the best meetings he had chaired. He said: “People have listened to each other and come up with compromises.”
Adrian Connor of Bath Hot Air Balloon Club added: “We look forward to bringing joy to many families and involving them with the balloons. Also we have run several Xmas events and have raised over £45k for Suicide Prevention, our chosen charity. We are very happy with the outcome.”
The balloon club’s collection contains balloons advertising Suicide Prevention UK, local company Able Scaffolding, and its iconic Slither the Snake — a balloon with a 3D snake wrapped around it after which Snake Meadows takes its name.
Tickets to the Snake Meadows Festival can be bought for £20 from the Bath Hot Air Balloon Club website. Tickets need to be bought in advance and will not be sold on the gate.