The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is the largest hot air balloon festival in the world, and one of the world's most photographed events. This year, 650 balloonists participated, and the organizers were expecting about 100,000 visitors over the 10 days of the Fiesta.
If the Fiesta is anything, it's an overwhelming visual experience.
We'd planned on visiting the Balloon Fiesta in 2020. Getting RV camping reservations at the Fiesta grounds is like trying to score tickets for a rock concert. On the day reservations become available, the hundreds of RV sites available are snapped up in less than 10 minutes. We'd won that particular screen-refresh lottery in 2020. Unfortunately, the 2020 Balloon Fiesta was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. Fortunately for us, the Fiesta organizers said they would just push everyone's reservations forward to 2021 if they wanted.
Although the Fiesta lasts for 10 days, the most intense activities occur during the beginning and ending weekends. We stayed at the Fiesta from October 1st (the day before events began) through October 5th. It was enough time to see all we wanted.
Marc and Melinda Roth, good friends of ours from Virginia, were also at the Fiesta, and we were able to spend time with them. Their son Elliot, rocking a dinosaur onesie, came in from California for a couple of days. Dressing up in costumes is part of the Fiesta vibe.
Our middle son Mace also flew in to join us from Saturday through Tuesday. It was great to have him with us.
Fiesta activities occur in the early morning and in the evening. The morning starts off with an event called Dawn Patrol. About 5-10 balloons go up super early to test the wind speed and direction.
The normal wind pattern in the Fiesta area is called "The "Albuquerque Box." Down near the ground, the winds generally flow south. A few hundred feet higher the winds generally flow north. Balloonists can travel back and forth by varying their altitude, and still land near the festival.
On October 2nd, the first day of the Fiesta, the opening ceremonies included a plane flyover at 6:45 am, greeted by the balloonists firing off their propane burners in unison.
At 7 am each day, a "mass ascension" begins. On the weekends, over 600 balloons are launched over a period of about 90 minutes. During the week, about 100 balloons launch.
The launch field is a large grassy oval the size of several football fields. One unique aspect of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is that spectators are allowed to walk around the field in and amongst the balloons - this is usually not allowed at other balloon events. The Fiesta employs a set of referees (nicknamed "zebras" because of their costumes) to keep things organized and everyone safe.
The balloons are set up in about 12-15 rows with 10-12 balloons in each row. Balloons in every third row are readied and launched. Once they're airborne, the next rows over start their process.
There are balloons of all colors. Some have sponsors, others are more homegrown.
Our favorite balloons were ones with unusual shapes, like animals or Star Wars characters (like Darth Vader and Yoda).
Not every balloon makes it up successfully. Our first morning, we watched the Darth Vader balloon being inflated. We thought it was about to take off when the balloonists decided they needed to make some adjustments to the flaps, and deflated the balloon. You can hear the disappointment from the bystanders, as well as some people yelling "Use the Force!"
In the evening, they set up around 100 balloons with their balloons aloft but the baskets still on the ground in an event called Evening Glow. Every 2-3 minutes, the announcer counts down to five, and all the balloonists light their propane burners for 5-10 seconds in unison.
After Evening Glow, the balloons were deflated. Next, we watched nighttime skydivers with glow suits and fireworks strapped to their legs.
After that came the real fireworks, including both aerial and ground displays.
On our second morning, we decided to watch one balloon get ready from start to launch: Ham-let the Pig (a.k.a., When Pigs Fly)
Later in the morning, they had a demonstration of remote-controlled balloons (much smaller than the passenger-carrying ones).
There is not a charge for balloonists to fly at the Fiesta, and it seems like they accept most applicants. The current limit on the number of balloonists is 750. In the past, they had 1,000 or more, but it became too difficult to coordinate. Balloonists (but not their ground crew members) get a free hotel room, $100 toward fuel for their transport vehicle, and free propane.
So what does it take to get to become a balloonist? About $80K for a standard balloon, one balloonist told us, and $120K or more for one of the fancy balloons. That does not include vehicles to transport the balloon or the cost of getting certified as a balloonist.
Some people have decorated trailers for their equipment, but it is possible to get everything you need into an SUV, as you can see below.
There is a Balloon Museum on the Fiesta grounds, which we visited one afternoon. It has exhibits about the history of ballooning and about the Fiesta. There are also the gondolas from several pioneering ocean-crossing balloons.
The RV campsite was about a mile's walk from the launch field, but they had free shuttle buses running about every 15 minutes if we wanted to get back and forth faster. The campsite is a large area with an open space in the middle which balloons can land in. We estimated that there were 500 or more RVs on-site. Some of the campsites were set aside for "rally" groups of 100-150 RVs, complete with entertainment and catered food.
We thought we had booked just a standard campsite, but it appears we'd been upgraded to a "box view" site with great views of the landing field.
Monday and Tuesday mornings, we stayed by our rig, watching the balloons rising in the distance and then floating overhead. When a balloonist would decide to land in the field near us, Mace and Jeannette would run out to help them get the balloon on the ground. It usually took 4-5 people to hold the balloon and its basket upright until the balloon's chase crew arrived. Traffic snarls could significantly delay their arrival. We heard some great ballooning stories while we were holding on to the balloon's basket for dear life.
Of course, not everyone is so lucky as to be able to land either back on the launch field or in the RV park field. Here's a balloon nonchalantly drifting by the other side of our RV just feet above a canal.
We could see balloons landing all over the Albuquerque area, which must be harrowing because they have to land in parking lots, on city streets, or in people's back yards until their chase crew can find and retrieve them. However, after 49 years of Balloon Fiestas, we're sure the people of Albuquerque are used to this.
We had looked forward for two years to attending the Fiesta, and it did not disappoint! It's an experience we'd recommend to anyone. Just make your reservations early!
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