Coming Soon To Skies Near You.....
52nd Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships
In September 2024 (21st - 26th), the skies above Tullamore, Co. Offaly will once again be filled with the beautiful sight of dozens of Hot Air Balloons.
All launch sites will be confirmed nearer to the event but, flights will be taking place over the beautiful town of Tullamore throughout the week - weather permitting.
Planned Flights (all flights are weather permitting) -
Saturday 21st September: PM only
Sunday 22nd to Thursday 26th inclusive: AM and PM
More details will follow nearer to the event such as location, times, more information on ballooning, weather information and updates etc. We are still in the planning stages and as soon as we have event information we will post it on the Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships page on Facebook, there will be no need to message us, we will make sure that all the information you need will be publicly available, when it is available - if you can’t see it, it’s because we’ve not announced it yet. Our dedicated Champs page on this website will also be able to provide you with some important information but will not be updated with specific information for each years event.
Unfortunately, flights for members of the public are not available during the Champs, flying is purely for fun by private balloonists only and so flights are not able to be purchased.
Just a little reminder that ballooning is totally dependent on the weather and we will only fly if it is suitable and safe to do so. We understand that some of you will want to travel some distance to see the balloons but, until around an hour (or even sometimes less) before the scheduled flight time, we will NOT be able to confirm if any flight will be going ahead and cannot ever advise on whether any travel should be undertaken. This can be very disappointing but, unfortunately, there is just nothing we can do about this aspect of ballooning. However, you have got 9 months to start your prayers to the weather gods…..!
Look forward to seeing you all soon!
THIS SITE ONLY CONTAINS GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE CHAMPIONSHIPS, ANY/ ALL UPDATES AND SPECIFIC INFORMATION YOU NEED CLOSER TO THE EVENT, ABOUT THE EVENT, WILL BE PUT ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE - IRISH HOT AIR BALLOONING CHAMPIONSHIPS.
PLEASE LIKE/ FOLLOW THE FACEBOOK PAGE TO MAKE SURE YOU GET ALL OF OUR UPDATES. ONLY THE PAGE ITSELF (NOT THE EVENT, THIS IS CREATED JUST FOR DATE AND GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES) WILL BE UPDATED WITH INFORMATION SUCH AS LAUNCH LOCATIONS AND FLY/ NO FLY DECISIONS, THE MAIN IBA PAGE AND EVENT WITHIN THE PAGE WILL NOT BE UPDATED.
Offaly County Council
2024 Championships - Sponsor
Offaly County Council, as the Local Authority for Offaly, provides an extensive range of infrastructural services, and plays an active role in the development of the county’s industry, business, social, arts, heritage and cultural affairs. It also functions as the regulatory body for certain matters at local level.
Offaly County Council are delighted to welcome the Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships back to Offaly for another year and hope that the Championships are even more successful in 2024.
Tourism is an important part of Offaly County Council’s remit and they welcome visitors from far and wide to the beautiful heritage town of Tullamore.
Offaly at the heart of Ireland, really is the ‘ hidden gem’ of the country. It welcomes the visitor to enormous tracts of wilderness, expanses of bogland, a vast mountain park, esker hills and deep wooded valleys with their streams and rivers. From the Slieve Bloom Mountains to Lough Boora Discovery Park and from the sparkling waters of the River Shannon to the peaceful stillness of the Grand Canal – they’ve got so much to show you!
Further information on attractions, activities & events can be found on www.visitoffaly.ie #visitoffaly
Charleville Heritage Trust
2024 Championships - Sponsor
Located in County Offaly, in the Midlands of Ireland, and bordering the town of Tullamore near the Shannon River, Charleville Castle is situated in Ireland's most ancient primordial oak woods, once the haunting grounds of Ireland's druids.
Charleville Castle grew from paper doodles in early 1798 to grandiose plans by the end of that very eventful year in Ireland. It was built by Charles William Bury, Earl of Charleville and was designed by Francis Johnston, one of the leading architects of the day. Charleville Castle is said to be the finest example of gothic-revival architecture in the country. This is a veritable gothic castle of grand proportions. It owes its "Tin Soldier Fortress" look to the celebration of victory over the third French revolutionary expedition to Ireland - the first decisive victory by Britain over the revolutionary republican movement, which was sweeping across the monarchies and their colonies at that time. It took fourteen years to complete this gothic dream, a monument not only to a now forgotten power, but also to the people who made it possible, the Irish craftsmen and impoverished people.
Nowadays the castle is run by the charity "Charleville Castle Heritage Trust" which was created in 1994. The Charleville Castle Heritage Trust is a voluntary non-for-profit organisation managed by Dudley Stewart with a team of core volunteers. The day-to-day running is handled by volunteers, who come from different countries including France, Canada, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, as well as other parts of Ireland to help out at the castle. The aims are the restoration and the sustainable conservation of the building.
At Charleville Castle we do everything we can to be part of the community's life, that is why we are always delighted to open our doors during local events.
We welcome RAHAN Comhaltas Seisiun all throught the summer. Performers offer us evenings of traditional Irish music, song, dance and storytelling within the Gallery of Charleville Castle. RAHAN Comhaltas Seisiun are held every Tuesday night, from 9pm to 11pm.
If you are interested in volunteering, supporting or finding out more about our activities, please register to volunteer or subscribe to our mailing list. We always have projects going on at Charleville Castle so if you have some time and would like to help out in the restoration, let us know!
And then.... There's always the ghosts!! 
Calor Gas
2024 Championships - Sponsor
Once again we would like to thank Calor Gas for their sponsorship and support for The 52nd Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships - the fabric part of a hot air balloon (the envelope) holds hot air in order to make them airborne but, the air inside the envelope has to be kept hot during the flight and this is done by burning propane, a combustible gas that’s used as fuel via special tanks, hoses and the balloon burners.
Calor Gas is the leading supplier of LPG in Ireland.
Switch to Calor for your central heating, cooking and fuel needs.
About Us
Who We Are
The Irish Ballooning Association is affiliated to the National Aero Club of Ireland, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale and the Commission Internationale d' Aerostation. The CIA is the international governing body of ballooning.
As the representative body for hot air ballooning in Ireland, the IBA handles the selection process for International competitions and supervises the National Ballooning Championships which has now been running for over 40 years.
Championships Questions
FAQ’s
Please DO NOT use the ”Contact Us” option for general questions regarding the Championships. Any/ all information you need (that is currently available) regarding the Champs - INCLUDING HOW & WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE BALLOONS/ TICKETS/ WEATHER ETC - is on our Champs page on this site or, on our Facebook page (Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships). Unfortunately, questions submitted via the contact us relating to previously supplied information, information on dates, times, locations, how to see the balloons etc. or information already on this website/ our Facebook page will not be responded to, please use either of the above options.
We will be unable to respond to any queries requesting fly/ no fly decisions information prior to our posts, nor advise or recommend, in advance of the outcome of the Pilots Briefing, whether any travel should be undertaken in order to view a launch. If your query is regarding launch locations/ times/ balloon locations/ weather updates etc. (all the info you need during the event), this information will be posted on the main Irish Hot Air Ballooning Championships Facebook page for everyone to see, we hope you will understand but, we will NOT be able to respond to individual questions regarding these aspects.
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE FLIGHTS TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC DURING THE WEEK OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS NOR CAN WE PROVIDE ADVICE ON HOW TO EXPERIENCE A HOT AIR BALLOON FLIGHT.