Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

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Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta


We originally had reservations to see the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in 2017
but Hurricane Irma hit south Florida on Sept. 10 of that year delaying our
departure by approximately 4 weeks.

Two years later we are finally here



 The Balloon Fiesta is a nine-day event occurring in the first full week of October, and has 600 hot air balloons each year. The event is the largest balloon festival in the world.



The first year for this Balloon Fiesta was 1972 with a small number of balloons.  
The number of registered balloons reached a peak of 1,019 in 2000, prompting the 
Balloon Fiesta Board to limit the number to 750 starting in 2001.


Citing a desire for "quality over quantity" and the limited number of landing zones in the growing city, 
the maximum balloon limit was lowered to 600 in 2009. 


On any given day during the festival, up to 100,000 spectators may be on the launch field
In 2015, the fiesta logged 955,703 visitors



It was so cool being on the field before sunrise as the crews were inflating and lifting off 
so many of these huge  balloons.


On Friday and Saturday evenings they have a balloon glow where they
inflate the balloons and light them in unison to create a glowing effect on the field.  




Balloons of every color





Balloons of every shape




Kind of looks like these guys are square dancing doesn't it?


After getting up at 4:30am on Friday and Saturday to catch the early shuttle over to the launch field, we decided to sleep in on Sunday morning.

We were awakened by the sound of the balloon burners over our RV.



So all we had to do on this morning was roll out of bed, make coffee and enjoy the balloons 
right at our RV. No early alarm or shuttle bus required.


Seems that on this morning the balloons were launching and drifting south over where 
most of the RVs sites were.


After being delayed for 2 years, we are definitely glad we came.


Until next time...Make it a Great Day!!!

































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