Most locations in central Bristol (the Harbourside and Old City areas) are reasonable easily walkable, and there are plenty of attractive walking routes along the quaysides and in the pedestrianised central streets. The main station (Bristol Temple Meads) is a little further (about 20 mins walk) but still accessible by harbourside walkways or by bus. Clifton on the other hand is about two, very hilly, miles away from the centre and using a bus is advisable.

Most bus services in Bristol are operated by First Bristol. As most of Bristol’s hotels and places to visit are located near the city centre or are in the upmarket suburb of Clifton, First Bristol’s number 8 and 9 buses are probably the most useful for visitors. They follow a route from Temple Meads station to Clifton, passing through the main shopping area (Broadmead), the city centre (also handy for the harbourside) and the West End on the way. Single-trip tickets are a flat rate of £1.20.

Because of the way the city center is intimately interwoven with the old ‘floating harbour’, a boat is a good way of getting around as well as seeing a lot of interesting sights. Bristol Ferry Boat runs several ferry services around the harbour, stopping at various quays on route, and even providing a commuter service between the city centre and the main rail station.

Bristol roads can be quite congested, although the congestion is not of the same order as is found in, say, London. Driving is not particularly to be recommended for local journeys, but is probably the best way of seeing the surrounding region.

By Air:

The Bristol International Airport is the gateway to South West England. Airlines serving Bristol include:

Air Arann Aer Lingus Air Southwest Aurigny British Airways Continental Airlines Eastern Airways Easyjet Flybe KLM Ryan Air Skybus SN Brussels

The Bristol International Flyer provides the only express coach service between the airport and Bristol’s railway and bus station. Pay on board and the trip is about 30 minutes.

First Buses run hourly during peak times M-Sa between the airport and Weston-super-mare hitting several stops along the way.

Purple Parking ) offers an airport parking service for business and leisure travelers.

Airportcarz ) is a convenient taxi service that operates 24 hours a day. The booking desk is located in the Terminal opposite of the International Arrivals.

Rental car companies servicing the Bristol Airport include: Avis Europcar Hertz National Car Hire

By Bus:

National Express is Britain’s only scheduled coach network that travels to 1000 destinations throughout the UK. Coaches stop in three Bristol locations including the Marlborough St Station, the Airport and the University on Queen’s Rd.

By Car:

Approach Bristol via the M5 from the north and south, and by M4 and M32 from London and Eastern England. By Rail:

Temple Meads is the main train station for Bristol, and is a moderate walk away from the central part of the city. Local train operators that service Bristol include: First Great Western Virgin Trains Wessex Trains

Getting around:

First City Line runs buses throughout Bristol and its surrounding areas. First offers several ticket options and discount passes.

A popular tourist choice is to see Bristol by ferry. The Bristol Ferry Boat Company offers a round trip tour around Bristol’s Historic Harbour, and also stops at major attractions. Departure locations are at the City Centre and Temple Meads.

There are so many wonderful tourist attractions to see in Bristol that there is sure to be something for everyone. Whether you are looking for thrills and excitement, Bristol history and exhibitions or animals and more exotic attractions, tourists and visitors will not have to look far in Bristol, one of England’s most important cities. Here are some of the top tourist attractions in Bristol.

Bristol Guided Bus Tours

Open-top hop on / off Bristol sightseeing guided bus tours operate throughout the day at regular intervals in central Bristol. These Bristol bus tours provide an easy way of sightseeing in Bristol and with daily hop on / off tickets, they are also a very useful way to travel around Bristol, since you can leave the bus to explore and get back on when you are ready. The Bristol bus tours connect all of the major points of interest in Bristol, including numerous tourist attractions, landmarks and monuments in Bristol.

Walking Tours of Bristol - The Annexe, Wildscreen Walk, Harbourside, Bristol, BS1 5DB, England

There are a number of walking tours around Bristol and these provide tourists with a real insight into some of Bristol’s most interesting and historic attractions, landmarks and streets, including walks across Bristol’s Clifton suspension bridge. Tours are available at the Tourist Information Centre, Harbourside by At-Bristol. Walking tours should usually be booked in advance to ensure your place.

Champagne Balloon Flights - Winterstoke Road, Bristol, BS3 2NP, England

Champagne Balloon Flights are available from Bristol’s Ashton Gate Park throughout the summer on fine days. The balloons mainly take off early in the morning and again in the evening, and provide one of the most spectacular ways to view the city of Bristol. Balloon flights last around one hour and need to be booked in advance. Most Bristol balloon pilots provide champagne and souvenir photographs.

Bristol Boat Trips - Gas Ferry Road, Bristol, BS1 6UN, England

Bristol boat trips are one of the most exciting and memorable ways to enjoy the many sights and sounds of Bristol’s vibrant harbourside area and the River Avon. There are a number of boat options available, including Bristol’s yellow and blue ferries, which often travel under the famous Clifton suspension bridge. Nearby are numerous tourist attractions, bars, cafes, restaurants and shops, all of which are easily accessible from the landing stages.

Bristol Hippodrome - St. Augustine’s Parade, Bristol, BS1 4UZ, England

The Bristol Hippodrome is Bristol’s main theatre and is a historic building, with many period features. Attractions include major West-End productions, musicals, children’s shows, pantomimes and spectacular theatrical productions.

Bristol Colston Hall - Colston Street, Bristol, BS1 5AR, England

The Bristol Colston Hall is Bristol’s largest concert venue and many famous pop and rock artists regularly perform here. Other attractions at the Bristol Colston Hall include comedy events and classical music extravaganzas.

Bristol Old Vic - King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ED, England

The Bristol Old Vic is home to one of the country’s best known and most successful theatre companies, producing an enormous range of modern classic, Shakespeare plays, musicals, children’s shows and much more besides.

Best known for attracting many famous and exceptional actors, other attractions at the Bristol Old Vic include interesting guided tours of the backstage areas.

Bristol Blue Glass - 5 Three Queens Lane, Redcliffe, Bristol, BS1 6LG, England

Bristol Blue Glass has been made since the 17th century and today, the glass is still free-blown and handmade at this popular tourist attraction. The historic glass factory has a number of attractions, including glass making displays, a viewing gallery, a visitor centre and a factory shop, selling vases, jugs, glasses and bowls. As well as the famous blue glass, the factory also produces Bath Aqua and Exmoor Cranberry glass.

Attraction open: Monday to Saturday - 09:00 to 17:00

Bristol Clifton Observatory and Caves - Clifton Down, Bristol, BS8 3LT, England

Situated next to Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge, the Bristol Clifton Observatory was actually converted from an old windmill in 1829 and houses the only surviving example of a ‘camera obscura’ in England - a Victorian group of lenses that project and reflect images of the surrounding land on to the interior of the tower. Other attractions for tourists and visitors at the Bristol Clifton Observatory include the nearby Giant’s Cave, which can be reached through a small tunnel and features a viewing platform, with spectacular views across the Avon Gorge.

Attraction open: Summer, Monday to Friday - 11:30 to 17:00, Saturday and Sunday - 10:30 to 17:00, Winter, daily - 12:00 to 16:00
Attraction admission: charge
(more…)

Large parks

Bristol City Council own three major parks: The Downs, Blaise Castle and Ashton Court. The Downs lie two miles to the northwest of the city centre and total 400 acres (1.6 km²). The downs are divided into Clifton Down to the south and Durdham Down to the north, with a main road running between them. At the south end of Clifton Down is the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and both look over the Avon Gorge. The Downs were given to the city by the Society of Merchant Venturers and are protected by an 1861 Act of Parliament.

Blaise Castle estate, situated five miles north of the city centre, includes a recreation ground and large playing fields, as well as woodland and a small gorge, totalling 650 acres (2.6 km²). Additionally the mansion house is now a branch of Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.

At 850 acres (3.4 km²) Ashton Court estate is Bristol’s largest park. Though the estate lies largely within the boundaries of North Somerset it is maintained by Bristol City Council, and has been publically owned since 1959. The park contains horse riding and mountain biking trails, and a deer park, and is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its ecology. The mansion house is now a conference centre.

Parks close to the city centre

There are only a few small parks close to Bristol city centre:

Castle Park is adjacent to Broadmead shopping centre and the Floating Harbour. The park was created after wartime bombing destroyed most of the mediaeval buildings which originally stood here. The ruined shells of two churches, St Phillip’s and St Mary’s, still stand with the aid of concrete reinforcements, and the foundations of Bristol Castle are also a feature. There are small formal gardens around St Phillip’s church.

Brandon Hill is a hill between the city centre, Clifton and Hotwells. At the summit is a folly commemorating John Cabot a pioneer who sailed from Bristol to Newfoundland. The park is steep and is divided into informal gardens, a small nature reserve and open grassland. The Avon Wildlife Trust headquarters are beside the park.

To the northwest of Broadmead shopping centre is St James’ Park, a small park divided into two sections by a sunken walkway which links Broadmead to St James’ Church and Bristol Bus Station.

West of the city centre near Bristol Cathedral is College Green.

Queen’s Square, a large Georgian square in the centre, carried the inner city ring road for many years, until it was dismantled and the square restored.

Additionally, there is an area of paved open space at St Augustine’s Parade in the very centre of the city, beside the harbour.

(more…)

There are two principal railway stations in Bristol: Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads, and there are scheduled coach links to most major UK cities. The city is connected by road on an east-west axis from London to Wales by the M4 motorway, and on a north-southwest axis from Birmingham to Exeter by the M5 motorway. The M32 motorway is a spur from the M4 to the city centre. The city is also served by its own airport, Bristol Internation (BRS), at Lulsgate, which has seen substantial improvements to its runway, terminal and other facilities.

Since 2000 the city council has included a light rail system in its local transport plan, but has so far been unable to fund the project. The city was offered European Union funding for the system, but the Department for Transport did not provide the required additional funding.

As a consequence public transport within the city is still largely bus based. The majority of the local bus service is operated by First Group. The central part of the city also has water-based routes, operated as the Bristol Ferry Boat, which provide both leisure and commuter services on the harbour.

Bristol was never well served by suburban railways, though the Severn Beach Line to Avonmouth and Severn Beach survived the Beeching Axe and is still in operation today. The Portishead Railway was closed in the Beeching Axe but was relaid between 2000-2002 as far as the Royal Portbury Dock with a Strategic Rail Authority rail-freight grant. Plans to relay a further three miles of track to Portishead, a largely dormitory town with only one connecting road, have been discussed but there is insufficient funding to rebuild stations.

Despite being hilly, Bristol is one of the prominent cycling cities of England, and is home to the national cycle campaigning group Sustrans. It has a number of urban cycle routes, as well as links to National Cycle Network routes to Bath and London, to Gloucester and Wales, and to the south-western peninsula of England. Between 1991 and 2001 Bristol had the third highest increase in bicycle use of any UK council area, at 1.64%.

Bristol is home to two major institutions of higher education: the University of Bristol, a “redbrick” chartered in 1909, and the University of the West of England, formerly Bristol Polytechnic, which gained university status in 1992. The city also has two dedicated further education institutions, City of Bristol College and Filton College as well as a theological college, Trinity College, Bristol. The Create centre is home to many sustainable development projects and life long learning schemes.

The city has 129 infant and primary schools, 17 secondary schools, and three city learning centres. There are also many independent schools of a high quality in the city, including Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital, an all-boys school, the only of its kind in the area and all-girls school Red Maids’ School, the oldest girl’s school in England (founded in 1634 by John Whitson).

In 2005 the Chancellor of the Exchequer recognised Bristol’s strong ties to science and technology by naming Bristol one of three “science cities”, and promising funding for further development of science in the city.[19] As well as research at the two universities and Southmead Hospital, science education is important in the city, with At-Bristol, Bristol Zoo and Bristol Festival of Nature being prominent educational organisations.

The city has a history of scientific achievement, including Sir Humphry Davy, the 19th century scientist who worked in Hotwells and discovered laughing gas. Bishopston has given the world two Nobel Prize winning physicists: Paul Dirac for crucial contributions to quantum mechanics in 1933, and Cecil Frank Powell, for a photographic method of studying nuclear processes and associated discoveries in 1950.

The city was birth place of Colin Pillinger, planetary scientist behind the Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and is home to Adam Hart-Davis, presenter of various science related television programmes, and the psychologists Susan Blackmore, Richard Gregory, and Derren Brown.

In 2004 the Office for National Statistics estimated the county’s population at 393,900, making it the 47th largest ceremonial county in England. Using Census 2001 data the ONS estimated the contiguous built-up area to be 420,556, and metropolitan area to be 550,000.

This makes the city England’s sixth most populous city, and seventh most populous metropolitan area. At 3,599 people per square kilometre it has the seventh highest population density of any English district.

Sixty percent of Bristol’s population registered their religion as Christianity, and 25% as not religious in the 2001 census, compared to 72% and 15% nationally. Two percent of the population follow Islam (3% nationally), with no other religion above one percent.

Bristol City Council is elected by thirds and there are two councillors per ward, each serving a four-year term. Wards never have both councillors up at the same time, so effectively two thirds of the wards are up each election.The Council has long been dominated by the Labour Party, but recently the Liberal Democrat party has grown strong in the city and took minority control of the Council in 2005. The Council Leader is Liberal Democrat Councillor Barbara Janke and the Lord Mayor is Conservative Councillor Peter Abraham.

Bristol’s Westminster constituencies currently cross the borders with neibouring authorities, and the city is divided into Bristol West, East, South and North-west and Kingswood. Northavon also covers some of the suburbs, but none of the administrative county. At the next election the boundaries will be changed to coincide with the county boundary. Kingswood will no longer cover any of the county, and a new Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency will include the suburbs in South Gloucestershire.

There are currently four Labour and one Liberal Democrat MPs. Bristol has a tradition of local political activism, and has been home to many important political figures. Tony Benn, a veteran left-wing politician, was Member of Parliament for Bristol South during the 1960s. Edmund Burke, MP for the city for six years from 1774, famously insisted that he was a Member of Parliament first, rather than a representative of his constituents’ interests. In 1963 Paul Stephenson led a boycott of the city’s buses after the Bristol Omnibus Co. refused to employ black drivers and conductors. The boycott is known to have influenced the creation of the UK’s first Race Relations Act in 1965. The women’s rights campaigner Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence (1867–1954) was also born in Bristol.

City Council

Bristol City Council is elected by thirds and there are two Councillors per ward, each serving a 4 year term. Wards never have both Councillors up at the same time, so effectively 2/3 of the wards are up each election. The Council has long been dominated by the Labour Party, but recently the Liberal Democrat party has grown strong in the city and took minority control of the Council at the 2005 election. The Council Leader is Liberal Democrat Councillor Barbara Janke and the Lord Mayor is Conservative Councillor Peter Abraham.

The city has two significant football clubs: Bristol City F.C. who play in Football League One and Bristol Rovers F.C. who play in Football League Two. The city is also home to a Rugby Union club known as Bristol Rugby, who have won promotion to the Guinness Premiership, and a first-class cricket side, Gloucestershire C.C.C.

In summer the grounds of Ashton Court to the west of the city play host to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, a major event for hot-air ballooning in Britain. The Fiesta draws a substantial crowd even for the early morning lift that typically begins at about 6.30 am. Events and a fairground entertain the crowds during the day. A second mass ascent is then made in the early evening, again taking advantage of lower wind speeds. Ashton Court also plays host to the Ashton Court festival each summer, an outdoors music festival which used to be known as the Bristol Community Festival.

The city’s principal theatre company, the Bristol Old Vic, was founded in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic company in London. Its premises on King Street consist of the 1766 Theatre Royal (400 seats), a modern studio theatre called the New Vic (150 seats), and foyer and bar areas in the adjacent Coopers’ Hall (built 1743). The Theatre Royal is a grade I listed building and the oldest continuously-operating theatre in England. The Bristol Old Vic also runs a prominent Theatre School. The Bristol Hippodrome is a larger theatre (1981 seats) which hosts national touring productions, while the 2000-seat Colston Hall, named after Edward Colston, is the city’s main concert venue. Bristol is home to many live music venues, of which The Old Duke is perhaps the best known.

The music scene is thriving and significant. From the late 1970s onwards it was home to a crop of cultish bands combining punk, funk, dub and political consciousness, the most celebrated being The Pop Group. Ten years later, Bristol was the birthplace of a type of English hip-hop music called trip hop or the Bristol Sound, epitomised in the work of artists such as Tricky, Portishead, Smith and Mighty and Massive Attack.

It is also a stronghold of drum n bass with notable bands like the Mercury Prize winning Roni Size/Reprazent and Kosheen as well as the pioneering DJ Krust and More Rockers. This music is part of the wider Bristol Urban Culture scene which received international media attention in the 1990s and still thrives today. Bristol’s musical pioneering spirit continues as the home to one of the largest and most diverse DIY music communities in the UK.

The Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery houses a collection of natural history, archaeology, local glassware, Chinese ceramics and art. The Bristol Industrial Museum, on the dockside, shows local industrial heritage and operates a steam railway, boat trips, and working dockside cranes. The City Museum also runs three preserved historic houses: the Tudor Red Lodge, the Georgian House, and Blaise Castle House. The Watershed Media Centre and Arnolfini gallery, both in disused dockside warehouses, exhibit contemporary art, photography and cinema.

Stop frame animation films and commercials painstakingly produced by Aardman Animations and high quality television series focusing on the natural world have also brought fame and artistic credit to the city. The city is home to the BBC’s regional headquarters, and the BBC Natural History Unit. Locations in and around Bristol often feature in the BBC’s natural history programmes, including the cult children’s television programme Animal Magic, filmed at Bristol Zoo. The slang term “Bristols”, meaning breasts, was popularised in the Carry On series of films.

In literature Bristol is noted as the birth place of Thomas Chatterton, chief poet of the 18th-century Gothic literary revival, England’s youngest writer of mature verse, and precursor of the Romantic movement. The 18th and 19th century portrait painter Sir Thomas Lawrence and 19th century architect Francis Greenway, designer of many of Sydney’s first buildings, came from the city, and more recently the infamous graffiti artist Banksy. Many famous comedians are locals, including Justin Lee Collins and Lee Evans. Bristol University has given us the satirist Chris Morris, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead and Matt Lucas and David Walliams of Little Britain fame. Holywood actor Cary Grant was born in the city, Tony Robinson (Blackadder) studied at the Old Vic, and Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith, The Matrix) studied at the City School.

Bristol has one daily morning newspaper, the Western Daily Press, a local evening paper, the Evening Post, a weekly free newspaper, the Bristol Observer and a Bristol edition of free Metro newspaper. The local weekly listings magazine, Venue covers the city’s music, theatre and arts scenes. The city has several local radio stations, including BBC Radio Bristol, GWR FM and a university station, The Hub.

A minority of Bristolians speak a distinctive dialect of English (known colloquially as Brizzle or Bristle). Uniquely for an urban area of Britain, this is a rhotic dialect, in which the r in words like car is pronounced. It is perhaps this element of the dialect which has led outsiders to dub it “farmer speech”. The most unusual feature of this dialect, unique to Bristol, is the Bristol L (or Terminal L), in which an L sound is appended to words that end in a letter a. Thus “area” becomes “areal”, etc. This is how the city’s name evolved from Brycgstow to have a final ‘L’ sound: Bristol. Another Bristolian linguistic feature is the addition of a superfluous “to” in questions relating to direction or orientation. For example, “Where’s that?” would be phrased as “Where’s that to?”, a feature exported to Newfoundland English.
Sport

The city has two significant football clubs: Bristol City F.C. who play in Football League One and Bristol Rovers F.C. who play in Football League Two. The city is also home to a Rugby Union club known as Bristol Rugby, who have won promotion to the Guinness Premiership, and a first-class cricket side, Gloucestershire C.C.C.

Events

In summer the grounds of Ashton Court to the west of the city play host to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, a major event for hot-air ballooning in Britain. The Fiesta draws a substantial crowd even for the early morning lift that typically begins at about 6.30 am. Events and a fairground entertain the crowds during the day. A second mass ascent is then made in the early evening, again taking advantage of lower wind speeds.

Ashton Court also plays host to the Ashton Court festival each summer, an outdoors music festival which used to be known as the Bristol Community Festival. The annual Bristol Harbour Festival features displays of ships and musical performances.

Theatre

The city’s principal theatre company, the Bristol Old Vic, was founded in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic company in London. Its premises on King Street consist of the 1766 Theatre Royal (400 seats), a modern studio theatre called the New Vic (150 seats), and foyer and bar areas in the adjacent Coopers’ Hall (built 1743). The Theatre Royal is a grade I listed building and the oldest continuously-operating theatre in England. The Bristol Old Vic also runs a prominent Theatre School. The Bristol Hippodrome is a larger theatre (1981 seats) which hosts national touring productions, while the 2000-seat Colston Hall, named after Edward Colston, is the city’s main concert venue.

Music

The music scene is thriving and significant. From the late 1970’s onwards it was home to a crop of cultish bands combining punk, funk, dub and political consciousness, the most celebrated being The Pop Group. Ten years later, Bristol was the birthplace of a type of English hip-hop music called trip hop or the Bristol Sound, epitomised in the work of artists such as Tricky, Portishead, Smith and Mighty and Massive Attack. It is also a stronghold of drum n bass with notable bands like the Mercury Prize winning Roni Size/Reprazent and Kosheen as well as the pioneering DJ Krust and More Rockers. This music is part of the wider Bristol Urban Culture scene which received international media attention in the 1990s and still thrives today.

Bristol’s musical pioneering spirit continues as the home to one of the largest and most diverse DIY music communities in the UK. Artists such as Gravenhurst and Chikinki have revived popular interest over the past few years. Other highly influential cult acts include Wall Planner, Pricktaster, Snakes On A Plane and November’s Ashes In The Rain. A dynamic community of bands, artists, promoters and music fans has developed around the Choke forum, named after a popular fanzine and club night which has championed underground music from Bristol and beyond since 2001.

Bristol is home to many live music venues, of which The Old Duke is perhaps the best known. Internationally recognised jazz and blues musicians active in Bristol include Eddie Martin, Jim Blomfield and Andy Sheppard. St George’s Hall, on Brandon Hill, is notable for its classical, jazz and world music performances, and the Carling Academy is part of the national touring circuit for rock bands.
(more…)

As well as Bristol’s nautical connections, the city’s economy is reliant on the aeronautic industry, the media, information technology and financial services sectors and tourism.[2] In 1998 Bristol’s GDP was £6.224 billion GBP, and the combined GDP of South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and BandNES was £6.98 billion. The GDP per head was £15,472, making the city more affluent than the UK as a whole, at 123% of the national average.[3] In 2000 Bristol’s unemployment rate was 5.9%, compared to 4.8% for the south west, 5.8% for England, and 6.0% for the United Kingdom.

Aeronautics

In the 20th century, Bristol’s manufacturing activities expanded to include aircraft production at Filton, by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and aero-engine manufacture by Bristol Aero Engines (later Rolls-Royce) at Patchway. The aeroplane company became famous for the WWI Bristol Fighter, and Second World War Blenheim and Beaufighter aircraft. In the 1950s it became one of the country’s major manufacturers of civil aircraft, with the Bristol Freighter and Britannia and the huge Brabazon airliner. The Bristol Aeroplane Company diversified into car manufacturing in the 1940s, building luxury hand-built cars at their factory in Filton, under the name Bristol Cars. The car manufacturer became independent from the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1960.

In the 1960s Filton played a key role in the Anglo-French Concorde supersonic airliner project. Concorde components were manufactured in British and French factories and shipped to the two final assembly plants, in Toulouse and Filton. The French manufactured the centre fuselage and centre wing and the British the nose, rear fuselage, fin and wingtips, while the Rolls-Royce/Snecma 593 engine’s manufacture was split between Rolls-Royce (Filton) and SNECMA (Paris). The British Concorde prototype made its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford on 9 April 1969, five weeks after the French test flight.

In 2003 the two airlines using Concorde (British Airways and Air France) and the company supplying spares and support (Airbus) made the decision to cease flying the aircraft and to retire them to locations (mostly museums) around the world. On 26 November 2003, Concorde 216 made the final ever Concorde flight, returning to Filton airfield to be kept there permanently as the centrepiece of a projected air museum. This museum will include the existing Bristol Aero Collection, which includes a Bristol Britannia aircraft.

The major aeronautical companies in Bristol now are BAE Systems, Airbus and Rolls-Royce, all based at Filton. Another important aeronautical company in the city is Cameron Balloons, the world’s largest manufacturer of hot air balloons. Annually, in August, the city is host to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, one of Europe’s largest hot air balloon events.