ORGANISERS of this year's Worcester Balloon Festival have revealed their plans to make it bigger and better than ever.

The event is set to return in June with two days of hot air balloons on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 then a monster truck show on Sunday 23.

Organiser David Bailey also revealed there were discussions to hold a memorial for tragic hot air balloon pilot Peter Gregory who died in a crash in Ombersley the day after last year's festival.

Mr Bailey said: "I don't know yet if anything will take place.

"Balloon directors are sorting the matter out but there are discussions of having a memorial for him.

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"They are talking with the family but we would like to do something, it's just about getting permission from the family."

Worcester Balloon Festival and Monster Truck Mayhem will take place at Worcester Racecourse.

Plans have been announced and tickets are currently on sale.

The festival will feature a range of activities and attractions, with food and drink stalls, craft stalls, and a variety of other entertainment options.

Mr Bailey added: "We've gone bigger and better for this year, we are hoping to have more balloons.

"The monster trucks are selling well. Three-quarters of the tickets allocated have already been sold which are available online only.

"We had 30,000 people attend over the two days in 2023, which is why we have increased our licence to hold 14,999 capacity for the monster trucks and hope to welcome 40,000 through the gates."

Gates for the event will open at 4pm on Friday, June 21 and 12pm on Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23.

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There will be free onsite parking but spaces will come on and first come first serve basis, although organisers want to encourage people to use public transport where possible.

Last year's festival was postponed by bad weather having initially been scheduled to be held in May before taking place in June. 

Mr Gregory died on Sunday, June 25 - the morning after the festival - when his air balloon crashed in Ombersley.

The 25-year-old's family said: "Peter had a heart of gold and always a “help-out” attitude to give back to those around, which we want to continue in his legacy."

So far, over £25,000 has been raised in his memory to get future generations into sport.

Tickets for the events are available online at Skiddle.com while balloon flights can be booked through vistaballoonflights.co.uk.