CLOSE to half a million people packed into Ashton Court in Bristol over the weekend to watch hundreds of hot air balloons take to the skies.

The 35th annual Barton Willmore Bristol International Balloon Fiesta took place over four days, from August 8-11, and featured mass ascents, two ever-popular night glows and weird and wonderful special shaped balloons including Snow White, a Financial Times tablet and Stuart, a minion from the children’s animated film Despicable Me 2.

The Red Arrows wowed the crowds on Friday afternoon, the RAF Typhoon jet made a flypast and the all-female Breitling Wingwalkers performed a gravity-defying display on Saturday.

Fiesta organiser Ben Hardy said the success of this year’s event was due to it being one of the biggest free festivals in the country.

"This year we saw really great crowd numbers reaching toward the 500,000 visitor levels across all four days thanks to our decision to spread the key entertainment elements over all the days of the fiesta," he said.

"There are so many people to thank but I’d really like to thank all of the balloonists who came from all over the UK, and further afield, keeping us at the heart of their ballooning calendar, the organising committee who work so hard to keep the event free admission and the members of the 100 Club who support our work.

"Most importantly though, our fantastic visitors deserve a really big thank you for making all our work worthwhile."