England has had The Bristol Balloon Fiesta for 40 years now. Sometimes a hundred hot air balloons glide across the sky in a beautiful and colorful display. But this year, things were a wee bit different than normal. We can now say the usually bright and cheery Fiesta has officially joined the Dark Side, as one of the balloons this year was shaped like the helmet of Darth Vader himself! The citizens of Bristol could look up in the sky and see the Dark Lord of the Sith glower down at them from above. Even Mark Hamill had something to say when he got word of dear ol’ dad floating over the U.K.
After a horrible, no good, terrible week, there’s nothing quite like a giant floating #DarthVader balloon to distract from reality & raise your spirits. #ThanksDad https://t.co/Js4J0Pb2WK
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) August 8, 2019
Of course, every Star Wars fan knows that Darth Vader isn’t one to let anyone stand in his way. Twitter user John Kerridge was one of the first to notice that floating Darth Vader early in the morning of Thursday, August 8. He made a post saying “Darth Vader’s head seems to be attacking another balloon over Bristol this morning. Oh well, just another day.” Just looking at it, we can hear John Williams “Imperial March” playing in our heads. We can only imagine the former Anakin Skywalker floating up to the balloon next to him and saying “Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. …”
Darth Vader’s head seems to be attacking another balloon over Bristol this morning. Oh well, just another day. pic.twitter.com/32107Kem3Y
— John Kerridge (@Northernechoes) August 8, 2019
While the Vader head balloon is indeed great, we hope it starts a trend towards other characters in the galaxy far, far away getting their own balloons. We want to see even more Star Wars icons floating above the English countryside. I mean, the Death Star is kind of a no-brainer right? And what about BB-8? I’d even be happy to see C-3PO’s permanently startled look get its own hot air balloon. Pun fully intended, but with Star Wars, the sky’s the limit.
Images: BBC News
