The Midlands Air Festival is an annual event that showcases incredible aerobatic displays, vintage aircraft, and thrilling aviation performances. In addition to this, they also showcase some of the very best hot air balloons around.

Held in Warwickshire, England, this festival attracts aviation enthusiasts and families alike to witness spectacular flying demonstrations and ground-based entertainment. From mesmerizing aerial acrobatics to historic aircraft showcases, attendees can immerse themselves in the world of aviation and enjoy a range of activities, food stalls, and aviation-related exhibits. Whether you’re a passionate aviation enthusiast or simply looking for a memorable weekend experience, the Midlands Air Festival offers a captivating celebration of flight.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the 2024 event and thought why not write a post on it. Which is exactly what I’m going to do. We booked in to camp, as we have done on previous years. With camping, you must buy a three-day ticket, which is great because you can really make the most of your time there. So here is how it went…

Thursday

The campsite opened just before lunchtime so we packed up the caravan and car (yes, babies come with a lot of stuff) and headed on our way. Thankfully only a couple of journeys by car, we soon met up with my mum and dad and finished the journey in a convoy. Booking in was really simple and so fast. We gave our booking reference and were directed to a lane to wait to be taken to our pitch. Once in our pitch, we could do as we pleased.

Setting up a caravan with a baby in tow can sometimes be tricky, but thanks to Ms Rachel (if you know you know!) we soon had it sorted. Whilst nothing happens on the Thursday in terms of the event, you are free to roam the campsite, enjoy the food and the bar or simply just stay on your pitch.

Friday

With the event site not opening until lunchtime, we were able to enjoy a leisurely morning before heading down to the show to enjoy some hot air balloon tethering and the model aircraft display before the main event got started. With bad weather across a large part of Europe, some of the acts were forced to cancel but the team at Midlands Air Festival did a great job of securing replacements. Something memorable for me where the Eurofighter Typhoon missing man flypast, dedicated to Squadron Leader Mark Long, who was tragically killed a couple of weeks before. An eerily silence fell during this flypast as everyone was able to pay their respects.

Another highlight included watching the Red Arrows perform with a full nine ship, something not seen in what feels like forever. I also enjoyed looking around at the little stalls they have there too.

One of the reasons why I’m always drawn to Midlands Air Festival is the hot air balloons and the Night Glow show. And boy they did not disappoint. I don’t think I have ever seen so many specially shaped balloons anywhere else. The Night Glow section was outstanding as always. Watching the balloons fire up in time to pieces of music really is something to see. I can only imagine a lot of practice goes into their perfectly timed display. Pyrotechnics from planes is also something not to miss. All finished off nicely with their firework finale. It’s a late one but so worth it.

Saturday

Although the gates to the event opened at 5.30am, we chose to have another leisurely morning after our late night. Getting down to the show just in time for the Red Arrows to open the flying display, there were so many things I wanted to see. Midlands Air Festival pulled it out the bag with the flying displays this year. Especially as so many things were cancelling due to bad weather in Europe. Yet they still managed to find some last minute replacements. One of which was a favourite of mine, the OV-10B Bronco, flown by my good friend Tony. Biased I know, but he always puts on such a spectacular display.

The show felt like I was reliving my youth with the likes of the Gnat, Jet Provost and Wingwalkers. These were all things I remember watching as a child. Even at lot of the maneuvers the Red Arrows are performing this season have been taken from nineties displays.

One of the major pulls for the show this year has definitely got to be the Flying Bulls DC6 and the B-25J, both of which I haven’t seen display in years. The pilots really pulled it out of the bag with their displays and had the crowd staring in awe at what they could do. Another highlight for any enthusiast was definitely the Draken. Not counting last years cut short display, it was the first time the Draken had performed at an English land based airshow in quite a while. It was a spectacular display if rather noisy. But don’t worry, Nellie slept through the whole thing with her ear defenders on!

After the flying display, It was back to the caravan for some R&R before heading down to the event again to watch the mass balloon launch. This is an amazing sight but quite often doesn’t get to happen due to too much wind. Getting to see from start to finish how a balloon operates is definitely something special. Whilst I’m not brave enough to go up in one yet, watching from the ground was magical.

Sunday

Sunday morning was an early one for us as we decided to get up and watch the 6am mass balloon launch. The lighting was perfect for photography and I’m so glad we went. Quite a few of the special shapes went up which was a sight to see because they are huge. Afterwards we headed back to the caravan for breakfast before heading back down to the show a few hours later. The line-up was much the same as Saturday which was great because I was able to take photos one day and film the other. That should certainly keep my Kelly Aviation content going for a while!

Monday

Monday morning meant it was time to pack up and head home. In fact we were one of the last remaining pitches to vacate but we still left on time. We absolutely loved our time at Midlands Air Festival. It’s such a fun yet relaxing vibe for a show to have, it’s definitely one not to miss. Waking up each morning to the stunning Ragley Hall is definitely a bit of a novelty too. The journey home was a little more eventful than getting there but I will leave that to the vlogs that are coming later this week on my channel. Let’s just say Ash was in the doghouse!

Final Thoughts

Midlands Air Festival will always hold such a special place in my heart. Just before the 2023 show, I found out I was pregnant and so being able to bring Nellie back with us this year was something special. Whilst the dates for next year haven’t been released yet, it’s definitely already down on our list of things we want to do. If camping is not your thing, I’d still recommend doing a day ticket, especially the Friday for night glow, because it’s something not to miss. Have you ever been in a hot air balloon?

Finally, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post. When I was planning my return after maternity leave, I knew I wanted to change things up a little bit. This blog started off as me reviewing products and whilst I still enjoy doing that, I don’t use as many different products as I used to. Over time, it has evolved and I know want it to be a place where I share anything I love.

One of those things is going to various different types of shows throughout the year as well as photography. This led me to think more about the future and I would like to share more of that part of my life going forward on this blog. Don’t worry though, the rest of the content isn’t about to change. I’m simply just adding the amount of things I could potentially talk about whilst giving you some ideas about events you might want to attend.