“The balloon seems to stand still in the air while the earth flies past underneath.”
– Alberto Santos Dumont
If hot air balloons are involved, I’m there!
I hope you’ve heard of Albuquerque most popular hot air balloon festival before but if not, The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a yearly hot air balloon festival that takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico during early October. The Balloon Fiesta is a nine-day event starting on a Saturday stretching til the following Sunday, and has over 500 hot air balloons each year. Trust me you don’t want to miss it!
I may be a little biased, but Balloon Fiesta is nothing short of magical. This is my second time attending the festival (first in 2014), and after returning for a second time, I’m certain that every October you will find me front row and center at the Balloon Fiesta.
How to get here:
The Albuquerque airport is located nearby in the city, flying into ABQ would be your best bet. Luckily I currently reside in Denver, CO a short 6-hour drive down I-25 S.
Where to Stay:
When I was here back in 2014 we stayed in Downtown ABQ in an Airbnb. I would recommend booking far in advance as hotels and Airbnbs are scarce when the over 80,000 people come to attend this festival. This year we were fortunate to stay with a dear friend at her house in Nob Hill. I recommend staying in Nob Hill or close to downtown Albuquerque, but the city is relatively small so anywhere else would work!
Now time for the details!
- Admission to the festival is 10$.
- Located at Balloon Fiesta Park (north of the city past Alameda Boulevard, one mile west of I-25.)
- This festival is for the early birds and when I say early, I mean EARLY!
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- The gates open at 4:30am and re-open at 3:00pm.
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- For weekend events, plan to arrive at the park by 4:00-4:30am.
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- During evening events, try to be at the park by 4pm.
My massive, massive pro-tip is to rent bikes or bring your bicycles. The traffic and parking situation leading up to the festival location is absolutely bonkers. I’ve heard people say they were stuck in traffic for hours. Yes. Hours. There is a great bike path (N. Channel Trail) leading to the festival grounds- use it! There is also free bike valet set up by friendly volunteers for you to store your bike. (Don’t forget bike lights and gloves when you are riding at in the wee hours of the morn to the park)
Albuquerque in general is probably the most bike friendly city I’ve been to in the U.S. When I attended the festival in 2014 we rented bikes for the full 4 days we were in town and used it as our prime mode of transportation. There are multiple streets where the bicycle have priority where streets are marked with a lower speed limit for the safety of cyclists.
My other massive, massive pro-tip is to attend the Mass Ascensions. This is when all 500+ balloons launch from Balloon Fiesta Park. This takes place at 7am only on the weekends (both Saturday and Sunday). You have 4 opportunities to see this and it’s completely mind blowing. As you stand in the field around 6am you notice everyone setting up their balloons all around you. Seriously, you will be surrounded by balloons all filling up simultaneously. When they begin taking off and you are rewarded with a sky full of balloons everywhere you look. It’s quite a sight!
Hot air balloons are extremely weather dependent. The wind conditions need to be perfect for the balloons to safely take flight. Every morning of the festival Dawn Patrol will go out at 6am to check the conditions (a few balloons take flight to see what direction the wind is and if its safe for the festival to move forward). It’s not uncommon to have the festival cancelled for the morning because of unfair conditions. I urge you to plan to attend multiple days. This year we attended on Friday with back up days to attend again Saturday and Sunday in case. Luckily, our first day on Friday received a green flag and the balloons went up!
We attended Saturday as well but this time we hopped on bikes to chase the balloons outside the festival. This is pretty difficult because you can’t predict what direction the balloons will go. But in our case we caught the balloons flying north from the Balloon Fiesta park over the Rio Grande.
While we didn’t ride in a balloon this year. In 2014 we were fortunate enough to go up in a hot air balloon. It was my first experience (since then we’ve had a couple other balloon ride experiences, in Cappadoccia, Turkey and Bagan, Myanmar.) It’s such a cool experience riding in a hot air balloon! I absolutely love it. The views from uptop – its truly wonderful.
We went with Rainbow Ryders and paid 395$ each. Yes, each. Riding in a balloon during Balloon Fiesta is definitely not the most economical, I would prob say its one of the more expensive hot air balloon rides one could take. But trust me its worth it – to do once! This included a 50-60 min ride along with 500+ other balloons simultaneously taking flight at the same time! It is incredible! Oh and of course you get a champagne toast afterwards!
If you are like me and excited to attend next year, you can start planning already with the dates for next years balloon fiesta. See you there!!
2019 October 5-13
2020 October 3-11
2021 October 2-10
2022 October 1-9
For more details head over to the official balloon fiesta website.
Recommendations
Book your Balloon Ride
Rainbow Ryders
Ph: 800-725-2477. reservations@rainbowryders.com
Bicycle Rental (seriously, do it!)
The Bikesmith. https://thebikesmithllc.com/ Ph: (505)-Bicycle; 242-9253. E-mail: Info@TheBikeSmithLLC.com
Food
O Ramen. Super tasty variety of ramen and Japanese curry. University Heights. 2114 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.
Kellys Brew Pub. Chill food with a nice patio in a renovated body shop to people watch. Nob Hill. 3222 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.
Garcia’s Kitchen. Cheap NM local chain with Mexican favorites. 2924 San Mateo Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110.
Breweries
La Cumbre Brewery. (My favorite). Alta Monte. 3313 Girard Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87107
High and Dry Brewery. Great beers in hot air balloon logo-d glasses. Nob Hill. 529 Adams St NE, Albuquerque, NM 87108.
Thrifting
Tons of vintage, antique, thrift stores. In Nob Hill walk along Central Ave. SE. its thrifting heaven!
