DRIVERS have been told there will be delays this weekend as hundreds of people are expected to descend on Worcester Racecourse. 

Worcester Balloon Festival is back and, along with the array of multicoloured balloons, visitors are also told to expect traffic throughout the city. 

The 2024 event will take place between Friday and Saturday and will include a range of displays, stalls, reenactments, freestyle motocross displays, and stunt bikes.

Around a thousand people visited the festival when it debuted last year, leading Worcestershire Highways to warn of delays across Worcester.

Signs have appeared on Croft Road, North Parade, Deansway, and Bridge Street, alerting drivers to possible delays caused by the event.

Highway officers have also advised drivers to avoid those roads and find alternative routes to ease traffic. 

Over 30 balloons are expected to be released from Pitchcroft over the weekend, which organisers hope will be "bigger and better" than last year.

It has welcomed a new side to the event called Monster Mayhem, which is set to bring an added thrill to visitors.

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

"The monster trucks are selling well.

"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 tomorrow (June 21) and 12pm on Saturday and Sunday.

There will be free on-site parking, but spaces will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, although the organisers want to encourage people to use public transport where possible.

Croft Road will suspend its car park for the weekend.