The highly-anticipated Dorset Hot Air Balloon Festival finally took flight in Dorchester - with mixed reviews amid complaints about traffic and facilities.
The event officially kicked off at 11am on Saturday at the Dorchester Showground.
The festival has been the subject of wide speculation with it originally being cancelled earlier this year because of concerns over the event’s validity after scammers infiltrated the festival Facebook page.
After it was announced it would go ahead 20,000 tickets were sold for the two-day event - and the sunny weather on the first day drew crowds of thousands.
However, this led to “horrendous'” queues of traffic on the A35 approaching the festival site, with drivers reporting queues of more than two hours on the A35. Some festival ticketholders even turned around and went home before reaching the site.
Unlike the County Show, there was no one-way traffic system in place with only one way in and out of the site. This, along with a lack of marshals, and a reported crash on the A35 contributed to the problems.
People were also frustrated at the low number of toilet facilities as queues stretched across the field, with some waiting as long as half an hour.
One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It’s taken an hour and twenty minutes just to get to the site by car from the main roundabout. I’ve come from Poole.
"I don’t think they’ve thought this through at all. There needs to be more toilets especially when people have been queuing for hours just to get in in the car.”
Another man in the queue, who also didn't wish to be named, said: "It's taken me four hours to get here.
"There needs to be more toilets, I’ve been waiting in the queue for twenty minutes.”
A spokesperson for the event addressed the traffic issues and admitted a lack of traffic marshals as they didn’t anticipate such a huge turnout.
The spokesperson said: “People buy tickets but not everyone turns up but because we were gifted with the weather, we had a lot turn up and it meant the capacity was full.
“However, in future, we have learnt some lessons for future festivals in that we need more traffic marshals and more toilets as well for the event.”
READ MORE: Dorset Balloon Festival organisers say lessons learnt
There was also confusion amongst many festivalgoers about the lack of balloons until later in the evening.
Annie Ondrusek, 53, from Poole, said: “It’s a bit disappointing as it was advertised as a balloon festival and they’re not doing it until 7pm at night so that’s kind of misleading.”
Another festivalgoer said: “It is a kid-friendly event which is good but there are no balloons yet.
"I won’t say false advertisement because they said there would be balloons later but in the day there could have been more.”
In response to these complaints, a spokesperson for the event stated they’ve always stressed the events were weather permitting, clarifying there was meant to be morning balloon flights but it was postponed until 7pm due to the foggy weather.
She said: “Every media post we have said it is weather permitting. The thick fog in Dorchester meant we couldn’t have any morning balloon flights. There was a briefing at 5.45am and it meant it had to be postponed.”
This late lift off left meant many parents were worried their children would be too tired to see the festival through to the end.
Couple Jo Gregory and Will Harrison, visited with their son Jacob.
Jo Gregory, said: “Initially I was expecting it to be a bit during the day as well.
“So we’ll have to see how Jacob gets on."
Will Harrison added: “That’s the only problem because it’s so late and we’re here all day and if his batteries go that’s it then he’ll miss it."
Yet these concerns didn’t dampen the spirits for many festival goers who were enjoying the “fun” and “family friendly” atmosphere of the event.
The festival also had a BMX bike show, fairground rides, food stalls, and live music from tribute bands.
Millie Downton, 16, from Weymouth said: “As a local event, it’s really good. There seems to be lots of food, lots of different stalls and it’s really good to bring the community together.
“I don’t really mind about the balloons. I quite like the live music and I think the BMX thing is quite cool as well.”
Christopher Downey is originally from Guildford but owns a caravan in Weymouth. He visited the festival with his daughter Evelyn and said he was “really impressed” with the festival despite the traffic problems.
He said: “I was a little bit disappointed with the queueing getting in as it nearly took two hours driving in.
"Other than that, it's done very well and it's quite spacious. There's lots of people here but it does not feel cramped so that's good.”
Throughout the day, people could enjoy funfair rides, a selection of food stalls, BMX stunt shows and tribute acts from Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, Elvis and Cher.
At 7pm, balloons began to lift one by one finishing with glow up balloons decorating the night sky as the festival's first day drew to a close at 11pm.
The festival continued on Sunday but it was not expected to be as busy due to the weather.
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