We bought two picnic mats with us so we bagged our own territory. As it got very busy in the evening people started to step on the sides when they tried to get through. Then a kid stepped right on the middle of our mat next to where we placed our food. That was so annoying!!
Sadly, there is a crowd, but it's all part of the fun including leaving, which we did a half way through the last song, that's when I took the last image behind a lot of the crowd.
Go for the morning ascent, I think there's less people and much nicer
RE: Bristol Balloon Fiesta 2026