The ballooning capital of the UK is getting ready to live up to its reputation this month as local artists and musicians take their music to the skies to create an immersive soundscape for the people of Bristol.
Bristol-based artists Dan Jones and Luke Jerram, lead the specially commissioned project known as the Sky Orchestra. The Orchestra will take to the skies later this month in a flotilla of seven hot air balloons to which speakers have been attached. As the parade of balloons passes over the city, an orchestral dawn chorus of original musical compositions will descend over the houses below.
This will not be the first time that Jones and Jerram have launched the Sky Orchestra; it first appeared in the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta in 2003, and also made an appearance in London in 2012.
Yet this time, the project is intended as an expression of love for the city below. The project is subtitled ‘A New Dawn for Bristol’, and is intended to symbolise hope, new beginnings, optimism, and renewal as the South Western city comes out of its period of lockdown.
The music the balloons will project has been composed especially for this endeavour and is performed by both established musical artists from Bristol, as well as emerging local talents.
In order to keep crowds to a minimum, the exact date, time, and location of disembarkation are still tightly kept under wraps, but one morning soon, Bristolians can expect to be woken up by the dulcet sounds of the skies above singing to them.
The city is an incredible place to explore by balloon. We offer hot air balloon adventures over Bristol during spring and summer.
