Northumberland Balloon Festival 'disappointment'

Hundreds of people travelled to Tynedale Rugby Football Club on the weekend of July 12,13 and 14, paying £15 for an adult ticket for Northumberland Balloon Festival. 

However, hundreds of people were left frustrated after wet weather conditions meant that many of the balloons couldn't be launched on the Saturday. 

After a 'lack of correspondence' on the Saturday, which prompted a 'significant' number of negative comments on their social media page, the organisers admitted that Sunday could also be a struggle due to the rain. 

Two of the hot air balloons (Image: Paul Grindley)

They wrote: "The heavy rain overnight causing wet ground conditions combined with some forecast potential drizzle during flying time this evening means we don’t expect to be flying this evening."

Speaking to the Hexham Courant, one customer said: "The unfortunately named ‘Northumberland Balloon Festival’ was a three-day event.

"The event website promised ‘spectacular balloon displays’ of which there were none during the day and one of the attendants stated they would only take to the air in the evening but nothing on the website said that. My wife booked the event a few weeks ago and paid £45 plus a £2.50 booking fee for three tickets to take our grandson for the afternoon to and we arrived around 1pm, an hour after it opened.

"As there were no balloons during the day we had effectively paid £47.50 to go to a small funfair and to make matters worse, attractions ranged from £3.50-£6 in price. We had spent nearly £100 in an hour.

"We are now taking the matter up with Richardson Amusements and Tynedale Rugby Club."

The hot air balloons on Friday evening (Image: Paul Grindley)

Another customer added: "Clearly, the weather at the weekend was by no means ideal for any kind of festival, and I can appreciate that the safety of the pilots and staff with the balloons is paramount. However, to not receive any up to date information regarding the event schedule or communication from the organisers at all, and to then have polite and constructive comments removed from their Facebook page, and to then be blocked from this by the organisers, I think is worth addressing."

On social media, Tynedale Rugby Football Club said: "We are now extremely disappointed to hear of the complaints which the event has attracted. In the light of those complaints, and the absence of any post event comment from the organisers, we are sorry that the event did not live up to its advance publicity and expectations. 

"We hope that this will not deter families from attending the many future events to be held at Tynedale Park."

Organisers were approached for comment but failed to respond.