A special flypast by the RAF Red Arrows will mark the 60th anniversary of Longleat safari park as part of a three-day hot air balloon festival from Friday 11th to Sunday 13th September.
The annual Icons of the Sky event will also feature two mass hot air balloon ascents per day, an afternoon air display, tethered balloons, hot air balloon night glow, airborne pyrotechnics and a firework finale.
A 120-foot-tall scarecrow will take to the skies above Longleat when it makes its UK debut. Called Smiley, its owner and pilot Jack Semler and wife Lynn will be bringing the hot air balloon from America for the event which is now in its third year.
Also making its first appearance will be the rare Chateau Balleroy balloon, commissioned by Malcolm Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine, who built a world leading collection of special-shape balloons – each designed to represent a country he visited.
“We’re incredibly excited by this year’s line-up and for guests to experience the spectacle of Icons of the Sky,” Scott Ashman, Head of Operations at Longleat.
“We have a range of warbirds across the weekend, with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire Pair on Friday and Saturday to the P51D Mustang ‘Marniell’ on each day. We’ll also have fantastic aerobatics, including Chris Burkett’s G Force Aerobatics, which is always popular with the crowd.
“We are thrilled the RAF Red Arrows have agreed to perform this special fly-past commemorating our 60th anniversary of opening the first drive-through safari outside of Africa.
“The RAF Red Arrows began displaying just a year before lions were first seen in the bluebells of the Wiltshire countryside at Longleat so it really is bringing two national treasures together.
“The team has conducted fly-pasts at many historic occasions from the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London to the Coronation of His Majesty The King in 2023 so to have them at Longleat is a terrific honour.”
Flights are all subject to weather conditions
Icons of the Sky is included in day tickets and available for members to book for £1 on Friday and Sunday.
For more information, visit longleat.co.uk
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