The magic of the Balloon Fiesta takes at least 25 years off the face of my 63 year old husband. When I imagined a mass air balloon ascension, I saw myself watching the action from a remote seat in the bleachers. Not so! There is zero crowd control. As you can see, people and their kids are all over the launch field while teams get their balloons ready for launch and then take off. It's a testament to the city's confidence in people's prevailing good sense as evidenced by folks wanting to see, but not getting in the way. This makes for an up close and personal experience, so we felt like part of the event! And everyone was busy getting those award winning photos and movies.
Each year the Balloon Fiesta features two major events. On the weekends there is an evening show of fireworks and while the tethered balloons are lit up in unison by firing the gas flame that heats the air inside the balloon.
Each weekend morning, just at dawn, hundreds of people lay out their balloons and fill them. There are so many balloons at the Fiesta, that the take offs are orchestrated by officials dressed as zebras in black and white stripes. They are easily recognized!
So, how is the balloon inflated? First the balloon is laid out on the field (although we saw one crew inflate as they unrolled their balloon).
Then a big fan is used to partially inflate the balloon.
Once the balloon has enough air in it, the gas burner is ignited to heat that air so the body of the balloon rises off the ground, but the air isn't fully heated until the balloonist is ready to take off. At that point friends hold onto the basket to keep it on the ground.
Here are a couple of gigantic bees being filled. It's quite a spectacle to watch them come to life.
Many of the balloons are "special shapes" like these. The announcer said that when you look inside one of these balloons, you will see a mass of threads that keeps the balloon in its shape. Here are a few of the special shapes. There are a couple of morning ascensions when only the special shaped balloons fly.
To honor the zebra Balloon Fiesta officials.
A Kiwi from a balloon team from New Zealand.
A butterfly following a shark (I think).
I believe this is a jester.
Some balloons celebrate special groups or events. This one is from the Acoma Pueblo. This pueblo is famous for its beautiful pottery. The Acoma Pueblo is on top of a lonely mesa in the desert near Albuquerque. Lee and I toured the Acoma Pueblo before we came to the festival. I will write up our visit in a different post.
Like the balloons, people are also uplifted. This little boy was so taken that he asked his mother to bring him closer to the balloons, so that he could give them all a big hug!!
Being in the field surrounded by co-operation and camaraderie is an experience filled with awe and admiration and the fun of a community celebrating a grand event.
This event is worth going to at least once in your life. It's always held in October and you can google the exact date when you find it's time for a visit to this iconic event.
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