Balloon Fiesta confirms return of special shapes

The festival will host the hot air balloon championships ahead of opening to the public on Friday 9 August

The Bristol International Balloon Fiesta has announced this year's line-up will include a range of "beloved classics" and "recent favourites".

Wallace and Gromit, Action Man, Rupert the Bear, Daisy the Cow, and Thomas the Tank Engine are just some of the balloon characters expected to make an appearance at the three-day annual festival.

Returning to Ashton Court Estate on Friday 9 to Sunday 11 August, the main arena will feature around 14 of this year's "hugely popular" and "uniquely shaped" hot air balloons.

For the first time the festival will also host The British National Hot Air Balloon Championships which will see around 15 balloon teams compete twice daily.

Duo, Buster & Bella the Bulldogs, have become firm Fiesta favourites in recent years.

Aardman's Wallace & Gromit’s Moon Rocket from A Grand Day Out is set to make an appearance at this year's event.

Daisy The Cow, a one-person hot air balloon owned and flown by Simon Church and built by Cameron Balloons and a Coffee Jar balloon replica will also take to the skies.

Piloted by Lee Hooper and the team at Spirit Balloons, Astro the Alien and his ‘Alien Probe’ twin

Action Man, regarded as one of the greatest balloons ever built, operated by the Virgin Airship & Balloon Company in the 1990s, will also be on show.

After taking to the skies in the nineties, Thomas the Tank Engine is also on the line-up this summer.