Longleat Celebrates

I saw a Pyrotechnic air display for the first time last weekend as part of the program called ‘Icon of the Skies’ which celebrated 75 years since Longleat was opened to the public. It included a 2 hour air display, hot air balloons, a firework display and much more, but it was the brightly lit aircraft performing a red arrow style aerobatic performance that thrilled me most. Imagine streams of stars instead of coloured smoke which fell and dissipated in showers while from the aircraft fireworks were deployed. It was not the kind of experience you could really capture with a camera. Another factor was the fact that there was almost no noise. I am sure it is something we will be seeing more of in the future. I certainly hope so.

The occasion was a special event called ‘Icon of the skies’ and offered a packed program throughout the day which included breath-taking flying displayswhich included flyovers from legendary Spitfire and Tiger Moths, high energy aerobatics, wing walkers and the pyrotechnic air display

The event was also taking place two centuries after an early hot air balloon flight ended at Longleat and there were balloon launches, tethered animal balloons, model balloons ( 1/10 the size ) and night glows.

The idea of a Safari Balloon Fiesta having been fostered several years ago after the Longleat collections team found a newspaper cutting which shows in 1824, pioneering balloonist George Graham – who was married to Margaret, the Britain’s first female balloonist – landing a balloon in Longleat after taking off from Sydney Gardens in Bath. He was greeted by the young sons of the 2nd Marquess of Bath at the time but turned down refreshments to meet a welcoming committee in neighbouring Frome.

Of course we could not visit Longleat without taking the safari. Yet again! How well the animals looked and many animals had been added since our last visit. We had to feed them all of course.

The length of a giraffe’ s tongue is so long you wonder how he can fit it in his mouth. With great dexterity they curled their tongues round the leaves as they stripped them from the twigs in seconds.

I do not think many people realised why the visit to the lion enclosure took so long and why so many zebra striped vehicles whizzed around. The reason was the failure of the automatic doors which had to be operated manually. Why I wonder were they on the inside! One pride of lions was very close to the gate and needed moving on. They looked contented and well fed but I am sure another tasty morsel in the form of a gate operator was very tempting!

The monkeys sat and peered inside and were excited that Jonathan had a packet of peanuts he was eating. The deer also ate so many cups of food that I don’t think they would need any more supplements to their diet. As for us we enjoyed a couple of good picnics ourselves as an alternative to the offerings from the food trucks.

For those interested, late November/December, will see the return of the Festival of Light .

You can add it to a full day of attractions including the animal safari or choose to just visit at twilight.

This year the Festival of Light invites you to ‘Turn back the clock and travel the world with us as we invite you to journey through time. Explore the era you want to discover as we showcase the evolution of the earth from the age of the dinosaurs to present day. This year’s spectacular lantern trail is a historical wonderland just waiting to be explored from 9 November 2024 to 5 January 2025. Become a time traveller and capture family memories with kings and queens, a giant 12 metre clock, the spectacular colours of The Arabian Nights or with the impressive House light show in celebration of Longleat opening its doors 75 years ago.’