Please visit our BALLOON WATCHING PAGE for all the information we think is pertinent to following and watching the balloons in competition.

Please visit our Festival of Ballooning Page for more information.

Unfortunately the burner of the hot air balloons is a bit scary for pets (a bit like the fireworks) so you would be best to leave your pets behind. 

The staff at the Northam Visitors Centre can provide a wealth of information about things to see and do in the Northam & Avon Valley area. Please head to our VISITOR INFORMATION PAGE for more information and contact details.

Windward Balloon Adventures are a major sponsor of the event and will be conducting passenger flights during the practice and competition flights. Please visit: WINDWARD’S WEBSITE for more information and online bookings.

Please contact the staff at the Northam Visitors Centre for all your accommodation enquiries please head to our:

VISITOR INFORMATION page

The limiting factor for a balloon flight is the wind rather than rain and usually when it is raining it is also too windy for ballooning. However Northam only gets about one tenth of the rain that falls in Perth. We have lots of days where it is raining and windy in Perth at sunrise but out at Northam it is blue skies and sunshine and perfect for ballooning. Quite often the rain doesn’t make it over the Darling Escarpment (Perth Hills) to Northam unless there is a big strong cold front pushing it inland.

Please keep in mind that the forecast that you see on the television is a forecast for Perth and may not necessarily reflect the conditions for ballooning in Northam at the time the balloons will be flying. Competition balloon flights take place at sunrise & sometimes an hour before sunset when the air is cooler and more stable. These are the ideal times and are what we call the “Weather Window”. Our flying area in the Avon Valley has been chosen for its for the excellent conditions for ballooning. This can mean that some mornings or late afternoons may prove to be flyable even when the forecast for the rest of the day may not be promising.

Many of our pilots have come a long way to compete so they want to give it their best shot and will be keen to wait until the latest opportunity to decide if they will fly (which may be an hour before the scheduled launch times).