The Strathaven Balloon Festival’s success continues to go up, up and away as the sun shone on the anniversary bash.
Organisers say that around 28,000 people flocked to the John Hastie Park as balloons took flight across Avondale.
Despite high winds halting flights on the Friday, temperatures soared – along with the balloons –on Saturday and Sunday.
Headline balloon, The Piper, towered over the crowd at 50 metres high, along with ‘Mr Wonder-fuel’ and ‘Mr Peanut’ among other weird and wonderful shapes to mark the event’s 25th birthday.
Pilots from across Europe also took part in another spectacular ‘Evening Glow’ on Saturday night, much to delight the huge crowds.
Balloon Festival committee member Les Hoggan, who contributed many of the above pictures, told the East Kilbride News: “The numbers were way above what we did last year. The pilots have been telling us how great a weekend it was, which is always great to hear, and the comments we have been getting from the public have been really positive.
“The park was filled with live music and there was a really good atmosphere all day.”
After introducing out of town parking, Les said it “seemed to go really well” when it came to managing the crowded Avondale town.
He added: “We will have two or three weeks off, and then meet to start planning next year.”
