Looking back at Northampton Balloon Festival through the years as iconic event returns

As the iconic Northampton Balloon Festival returns after a hiatus of more than a decade, Chronicle & Echo has delved into its archives to find photos of the event from years gone by.

The festival is back for 2023 and is taking place this weekend (Friday August 18 to Sunday August 20) at the Racecourse. Expect epic hot air balloons, hours of live entertainment, stalls, kids activities and more.

Before its break, the festival originally took place at the Racecourse between 1989 and 2008, and became one of the biggest in the country. The balloon festival then moved to Billing Aquadrome and combined with the town festival. The last one of its kind of that event was held in 2018.

Now the original balloon festival is back and is said to be “bigger than ever”, so to mark the occasion we are looking back at the festival in years gone by.

Below is a collection of pictures of Northampton Balloon Festival through the years.