Albuquerque Balloons

Long before "bucket lists" became a thing, I've wanted to attend the annual balloon festival in Albuquerque (ABQ), NM. I blame Dr. George Fischbeck, my favorite 1970s TV meteorologist, who bragged every year about going to the festival. It always sounded so exotic, but I never went. That is, until this year when the UCLA alumni travel group offered a weekend in ABQ to see the balloons. This would be our first big post-pandemic excursion. We booked the tickets 6 months in advance and kept our fingers crossed that COVID wouldn't shatter our plans.

Not yet ready to fly, we instead reserved an overnight "roomette" (i.e., bunk beds for two) on Amtrak—a tad cramped, but far better than, say, driving to New Mexico. The travel group arranged our hotel reservation: the luxurious Hotel Chaco, adjacent to Old Town Albuquerque and across the street from the Sawmill Market, a tasty food emporium serving everything from thin-crust pizza (me) to lobster po-boy sandwiches (Tim) to amazing fruit-topped waffles (me and Tim!). Food galore.

Amtrak roomette

Sawmill Market

Pizza from HAWT (Have a Wonderful Time)

On Friday night, we attended a reception where we met the other hundred or so alums from colleges across the country. Then it was to bed, so we could rise early the next morning to catch our buses to the festival. The first event of the day: the Dawn Patrol balloon release at—you guessed it—dawn! Meaning, of course, that we had to leave the hotel at 4:30AM. Beautiful, but I'm pretty sure every one of us took a long nap once we returned to the hotel at 10AM!

Dawn Patrol balloons aglow

Once the Dawn Patrol took off, balloons started to inflate all over the airfield, so we made our way down to get a closer look. The Albuquerque balloon festival is the only U.S. airshow that allows attendees to walk among the airships as they prepare to fly. Seeing the efficiency of the ground crews prepping the balloons for flight was exhilarating. In a matter of minutes, deflated balloons lying flat on the ground were filled with cold then hot air before launching. Mass Ascension began at 7AM, ending some 2 hours later with hundreds of balloons flying above. It was crowded, loud, colorful, and absolutely exciting—everything I always hoped it would be!

Before inflation

Filling with cold air

Ground crew members

Filling with hot air—very noisy

Surrounded by color

Up close

Mass Ascension: Up, up and away!

I especially loved the "shape" balloons: Airebelle the cow (sponsored by Creamland Dairy), Smokey the Bear, Harlequin, pink pig ("When Pigs Fly"), and even a red devil.

Harlequin

Watermelon balloon

Smokey the Bear

Red Devil. Note how tiny the people look below him.

Airebelle the Cow and penguin

When Pigs Fly

We returned at sunset for the "Twilight Twinkle Glow" show, where the balloons stayed on the ground but were illuminated by hot air flames. Magnificent.

Twilight Twinkle Glow

A glorious show!

Back again the next morning for Dawn Patrol, followed by another spectacular Mass Ascension. The most popular balloons on Sunday were Darth Vader and Yoda, accompanied by several cosplayers dressed as storm troopers, rebel fighters, and, of course, Boba Fett, who all secured the perimeter while the balloons were inflated. What a thrill!

Dawn Patrol flying overhead on Sunday

Balloons in various states of inflation. Note the woman

standing in the mouth of the balloon at bottom of photo.

"There's no place like home, there's no place like home"

Mass Ascension Day #2

Boba Fett securing the perimeter, while Yoda

inflates behind him. Darth Vader is still flat on the ground.

Darth whispering in Yoda's ear: "Come to the dark side!"

Darth Vader afloat. Note the tiny gandola hanging below.

We had a wonderful time and highly recommend making the trip to Albuquerque to see the biggest balloon fest in the U.S. But you'll need to get up early to see it all!

Old Town Albuquerque