Angry locals demand refund from Wales Balloon Festival

The event took place at the Carmarthen Showground from June 27 to June 29 which featured a range of hot air balloons on display, funfair rides, food and drink.

However, on the Wales Balloon Festival Facebook page, several users have expressed their disappointment with the difficulty to find parking, expensive prices and the chaos they experienced when getting to and from the event.

The balloon festival featured hot air balloons, funfair rides, food and drink. (Image: Emma Hargrave) Leanne Isaac posted: “Discount for returning customers? I wouldn’t go next year if they paid me! Utter shambles.”

Jane Edwards reviewed her experience in more detail: “After paying for car parking no one was checking on the gate and there was only one lane coming into the venue.

“When we got to the event there was no show layout. So, no-one knew where or what was going on. Some things like the big top and Dinoland were both drowned out by fairground rides and were too close together.

“There weren’t enough chairs at the food area and tables were being used by picknickers instead of those purchasing food. There weren’t enough bins, and no one was collecting litter.

“Some adults had to go on rides with children and not others. Some adults were charged to go on rides with youngsters and not others. Extortionate price for drinks with no availability to refill water bottles.”

Regarding the parking situation, Gina Lewis said: “We need a refund for those who paid for parking this year on the Saturday.”

The event caused a traffic jam on the A484 to Pensarn. (Image: Claire Hodges) One Carmarthenshire resident was so discouraged by what she heard that she decided to not attend the event on Sunday, even after paying for tickets.

Lucy May Price wrote: “Unfortunately, all the bad things I was reading on Saturday and seeing people stuck in traffic for hours on end, put me off going on the Sunday. This was even after paying £58 for tickets.

“We might have still gone seeing as tickets we already paid for tickets. But the traffic chaos we saw on Saturday really put us off. We have two small children and couldn’t risk being stuck for hours.”

On Saturday (June 29) at around 4:30pm it was reported that a traffic jam had been caused by the balloon festival on the A484 to Pensarn.

The traffic chaos from the event then spread to the A40 from Carmarthen to Pembrokeshire and on the A48 from Cross Hands to Carmarthen.

The A484 was closed by Dyfed-Powys Police before being reopened at 8:48pm.

Wales Balloon Festival has been contacted for comment.

Reacting to the gridlock, a spokesperson for the festival posted on Facebook: "It seems the postcode for the showground is taking visitors to the wrong entrance which is effecting the traffic and causing delays. We were not aware of this, especially as it is our first event here.

"We do apologise for the inconvenience caused."

For more information about the Wales Balloon Festival, visit the event’s Facebook page.