Even though I've been living in Texas for almost my entire life, I was only now able to make it to the amazing one-of-a-kind festival in my neighboring state of New Mexico. Albuquerque's International Balloon Fiesta is a world-famous event that takes place in early October and attracts fans from all over the world! More than 600 different balloons take flight during this one-week festival. Also, it’s one of the only places where you can walk among the balloons as they are set up and talk to the pilots. If it's on your bucket list to ride a hot air balloon while in the United States, then Albuquerque's the place to come.
For more information about the balloon fiesta, visit the official site: https://www.balloonfiesta.com/
Transportation
The best way to get to the park is by taking one of the many bus shuttles offered close by and avoid driving there. The Fiesta crew was amazing this year in getting people in and out of the park as quickly as possible with more than 200 buses at their disposal. Taking the bus allows you to avoid all the traffic and parking hassle which can get very frustrating. Also, it costs $15 to even park your car in the lot so this saves money too! In order to take advantage of this service, the ticket is $5 per person at each morning or evening session you attend. Assume getting to the park to take about 30 to 40 minutes after parking your car at the drop off location.
There are four locations around Albuquerque where you can board the buses, so book your hotels close to one of these to save traveling time in the mornings! These locations can be found on the Balloon Fiesta page.
Buses begin around 4:30 AM for the Mass Ascension. I would suggest leaving by 5 AM on the bus to reach the park by 6 AM. By getting there earlier, we had time to grab some warm breakfast burritos and find a good spot for watching the balloons take off at 6:40 AM.
For the Special Shape Glowdeo™ which was on Friday of Balloon Fiesta week, we got on the bus around 5 PM and reached the park around 5:45 PM, just in time.
All about the Mass Ascension
Mass Ascension can be considered the most important event of the Balloon Fiesta. Every morning during the week of Balloon Fiesta, hundreds of hot air balloons decorate the sky like ornaments. In order to see the Mass Ascension at 7 AM, you should plan to be at the park for a good location by 6 AM. Buses begin by 4:30 AM for early birds. The best places to view the Mass Ascension in my opinion is on the balloon field itself among the hundreds of balloons or on a hill north of the field near the parking lot for a better panoramic type of view.
During Mass Ascension, you can also be in one of the hot air balloons yourself among the many balloons that take off. There are several companies that offer rides such as Rainbow Ryders and Sundance Balloons.
Evening Events
During the evening, all of the special shaped balloons are set up in the field at 6:15 pm. For the whole hour, you get to roam around and visit all of your funky favorites. I have to say my favorites were Tom and Jerry, the pink Lucky cat, and Spider Pig. Once it gets a little darker, the balloons turn up the fire to light all the balloons at once which is a pretty magical scene. At the end of the night around 8 PM, there was an impressive firework show worth seeing. However, most people were trickling out by then, so we did too. We still got to see the fireworks from the line to board the buses without having to wait too long in line.
Weather Tips
Early October is the beginning of true fall in New Mexico, so the early mornings can be pretty chilly and windy. I would suggest dressing in layers to really feel comfortable throughout the day. However, by 11 AM, the weather warms up, and you're going to want to peel off all those extra layers. I would suggest a thick sweater with a shirt on underneath plus maybe a coat if needed would suffice.
In case of rain, there may be a chance that the events of the day may be cancelled since flying hot air balloons requires certain weather conditions to be safe. Try to check the weather in morning before leaving to be aware of a possible cancellation. When booking a hot air balloon ride, try to avoid days with chance of rain to avoid disappointment. And book extremely early!
Photography Locations
The International Balloon Fiesta is one of the most photographed events in the world. Finding a good vantage point of the event can be difficult to decide on. I found two locations to really be the best when shooting depending on the kind of photos you want to take.
- Balloon Field
- Hill north of the field
When I arrived for Mass Ascension, my parents and I ran into a Canon group that was getting ready to walk up the hill for a photography session and decided to tag along. This was a great initial vantage point to really see all the balloons across the whole field and see them take off. We even had a few balloons that came toward us for some cool shots. Once we had spent about 40 minutes there, we decided to go down to the field to get a different vantage point. I think this was a good transition to capture the sky standing on the field once many balloons were in the sky.
Food & Souvenirs
Let’s not forget the most important part of any trip. The festival also has a Main Street that is filled with booths of all sorts of festival foods from turkey legs to funnel cake. Most booths are CASH only, so please don’t forget to stop by an ATM to pick up some. There are also tents selling different kinds of souvenirs if interested. For official Balloon Fiesta gear, there are two tents set up in different parts of the park selling them.
Be sure to pick up a map when you enter the park to locate booths you want to visit.