Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Festival: Sky Spectacular

October 5, 2024 - Magical 9 day event . . . Add it to your “ Bucket List” 😃👍🏼❤️ WOW! We bussed in from Maryland , to spend 2 sessions over 2 days ! ( good tip, in case of high wind or rain. . . Balloons won’t lift off) Morning session is before Sunrise to noon! Evening session is 3pm to 9 pm . . . Buy tickets for a session ! Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta started 1972, over 50 years growing to 600 balloons of all sizes, shapes, and colors. Over 30 balloons sponsored by different countries! It’s pricey, worth it! You can bring in food & beverages to save money. ( No alcohol) The Balloon Park is 365 acres . . . It’s big! People buy their tickets, enter the park, and walk around on the field to meet the balloon crews as they set up their hot air balloons! Near the Main Stage folks watch the color flag flying. . . If it’s Red, no lift off! If the flag is YELLOW, it’s caution ⚠️ must wait for weather to stabilize ( winds to calm, under 10 m.p.h.) The GREEN flag means LIFT off ! As you walk around you’ll notice merchandise tents , where you can shop! You’ll also notice corporate sponsors that restrict entrance to special visitors/members of that organization. You might notice the Gondola Club, or Chaser’s Club . . . Big tents that cater food, beverages, and merchandise to clients who buy advance tickets. Our bus group paid $130 a ticket to the Gondola Club. They catered a nice breakfast with morning cocktails on our 1st day/ morning session to see lift off on October 5th! Our bus group also purchased tickets for an evening session at the Gondola Club. They catered a wonderful BBQ menu with salad and pulled pork . Then we watched at dusk, an evening glow burn 🔥 of 20 balloons! Followed by fireworks & Drone Laser show! Amazing the synchronized patterns of the drones in colorful formations! 😃👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Over a million visitors attend these 9 days of events. Well organized venue , with 5 locations to purchase shuttle bus transportation to the Fiesta Balloon Park. Get use to portable Potties! My highlight was talking to some of the balloon crews as they readied their equipment. They offered small color cards of their balloon, like baseball trading cards! In the past pins were given & collected. I saw several older folks with their jackets stacked & packed with different balloon pins! A great tradition, that I hope continues through the years😃👍🏼

A very beautiful event, I would go again every year, but my family and I paid for the Park and Ride and left from the Cottonwood Mall. To get there it was excellent, they dropped us off at the entrance, but on the way back we walked a lot. We paid the P&R to avoid lines and the return buses are very far away. If I had taken the car I would have walked the same distance from the parking lot to the entrance or exit. Please improve that for next year.

It's a great fest but there needs to be much better signage on the interstate on where to exit. It took 3.5 hours to drive from downtown on the first Saturday of the event (most of that being the last 3 miles). Would be nice to see the drone show get bigger in place of the fireworks. Be sure to hit the night glow which is stellar as long as the weather allows inflation of balloons. That being said it's a good idea to plan on attending at least two morning sessions and two evenings just in case weather interferes with a session (hey it happens and we appreciate putting safety first) This is a bucket list kind of event, well worth the early morning wake up call (plan to get there by 430 am to give you time to get down to the field in the morning).

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was a truly magical experience! The weather was perfect, providing clear skies and pleasant temperatures, making it an ideal day for balloon watching. Parking was a breeze, with no issues at all, which was a relief given the large number of attendees. One of the highlights was watching the new Smokey Bear balloon as it prepared for takeoff. It was fascinating to see the intricate process involved in getting these magnificent balloons ready for flight. The special shape balloons were breathtaking, each one unique and adding to the vibrant tapestry of the event. Despite the crowds, the event was impressively well-organized. The flow of people was managed efficiently, ensuring everyone could enjoy the spectacle without feeling overwhelmed. The Balloon Fiesta offered a beautiful blend of excitement and tranquility, creating memories that will last a lifetime. Overall, it was an extraordinary event that I highly recommend to anyone looking to experience the wonder of hot air balloons in a beautifully organized setting.

Too introverted for the festival. Be prepared to fight crowds, spend money, and wait on the wind. Massive crowd alert! I’m glad we went, checked it off my list. If I could do things differently I’d pack lawn chairs and a picnic and find a hill to enjoy the balloons miles away from thousands and thousands of people. If you go, remember cash (parking is cash only and vendors charge higher than average credit card fees). Expect to pay $10-15 for drinks (non-alcohol) and $15-25 for food - per person. If I attend the festival again, I’ll splurge on VIP. Note: the balloons are required to wait for the green flag before inflating so timing depends on wind. You might or might not see a mass ascension or night glow or you might wait an hour later than scheduled. Was it worth it - yes! ✅