As appeared in the 2009 Albuquerque Almanac
At the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, hard core fans arrive the night before and are down on the field prior to daybreak the next morning anticipating the mass ascension just after sunrise. Everyone who is not at Fiesta Park is standing bleary-eyed in their backyards donning chenille bathrobes and fuzzy slippers with coffee cups firmly in hand in hopes that the winds will blow the cavalcade of gentle giants in their direction. If Mother Nature is on their side, they are the lucky ones, the chosen ones to a front row seat of a colorful spectacle of beauty and awe. But ask their dogs and I think the answer would be quite the opposite. We all know hot air balloons floating in an otherwise empty sky over the house are as unnerving to a dog as a long slithering centipede is to an unsuspecting eight year old little girl. Regardless of who is on the receiving end, Balloon Fiesta is one event to be put on your Things To Do Before I Die list.
The first year my family lived here, the winds blew the Fiesta balloons right over our house everyday of the nine day event. We didn’t realize how lucky we were at the time because not everyone is bequeathed that kind of up-close sky candy as we learned the following year when Mother Nature blew the balloons southward.
The special shaped balloon launch is one of the most popular events of the Fiesta. My daughters and I sat at home glued to the television watching and trying to identify each balloon as it slowly began to inflate on the field. As the pilots fired their propane burners and heated the air inside of the balloons, Humpty Dumpty, an 86-foot-tall Darth Vader, a 100-foot-long Noah's Ark complete with 28 animals, Smokey the Bear, a pink pig, a cow and a lighthouse were among the many special shaped balloons that slowly rose to attention and swayed back and forth as the immediate sky above the field became crowded with the buoyant colorful characters.
It was only a matter of minutes before we could see these gentle giants from our backyard as they hop scotched across the sky. “There is Airabelle the Creamland cow,” my nine year old daughter said in delight. The sky was filled with color; almost 700 balloons just hanging in the air like Christmas ornaments hanging on a tree. It truly is a breathtaking sight to see.
But nothing compares to being right up close to the action at balloon central, a.k.a. Balloon Fiesta Park. Upon arrival the following weekend we were informed the weather wasn’t cooperating and the balloons were not going to launch. Instead, a handful of die hard pilots were going to attempt a glow for the spectators. A glow is when the balloons inflate but do not launch into the wild blue yonder. Instead they stay on the ground and appear to glow when the pilots ignite the burner and the flame lights up the balloon from the inside. Towering higher than one would expect, people mingled on the field as the pilots and crew members stretched, pulled, held open, inflated and heated the air inside their balloons to make them rise bigger and grander than one could ever imagine. Cameras snapped away as one incredible Albuquerque sunset provided a perfect pink and salmon backdrop for the festivities that Saturday evening.
Inclement weather is always a risk at Balloon Fiesta and chances are there will be at least one or two events that get winded out. As we stood in line for our funnel cakes and mocha latttes we met a family who had come all the way from New Zealand. They said they had planned their trip for three years and it didn’t matter to them if the weather wasn’t cooperating, they were just happy to be a part of all the excitement.
That’s the spirit that built the west.
Please visit www.albuquerquealmanac.net to learn more about the Albuquerque Almanac and purchase a copy for yourself.
At the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, hard core fans arrive the night before and are down on the field prior to daybreak the next morning anticipating the mass ascension just after sunrise. Everyone who is not at Fiesta Park is standing bleary-eyed in their backyards donning chenille bathrobes and fuzzy slippers with coffee cups firmly in hand in hopes that the winds will blow the cavalcade of gentle giants in their direction. If Mother Nature is on their side, they are the lucky ones, the chosen ones to a front row seat of a colorful spectacle of beauty and awe. But ask their dogs and I think the answer would be quite the opposite. We all know hot air balloons floating in an otherwise empty sky over the house are as unnerving to a dog as a long slithering centipede is to an unsuspecting eight year old little girl. Regardless of who is on the receiving end, Balloon Fiesta is one event to be put on your Things To Do Before I Die list.
The first year my family lived here, the winds blew the Fiesta balloons right over our house everyday of the nine day event. We didn’t realize how lucky we were at the time because not everyone is bequeathed that kind of up-close sky candy as we learned the following year when Mother Nature blew the balloons southward.
The special shaped balloon launch is one of the most popular events of the Fiesta. My daughters and I sat at home glued to the television watching and trying to identify each balloon as it slowly began to inflate on the field. As the pilots fired their propane burners and heated the air inside of the balloons, Humpty Dumpty, an 86-foot-tall Darth Vader, a 100-foot-long Noah's Ark complete with 28 animals, Smokey the Bear, a pink pig, a cow and a lighthouse were among the many special shaped balloons that slowly rose to attention and swayed back and forth as the immediate sky above the field became crowded with the buoyant colorful characters.
It was only a matter of minutes before we could see these gentle giants from our backyard as they hop scotched across the sky. “There is Airabelle the Creamland cow,” my nine year old daughter said in delight. The sky was filled with color; almost 700 balloons just hanging in the air like Christmas ornaments hanging on a tree. It truly is a breathtaking sight to see.
But nothing compares to being right up close to the action at balloon central, a.k.a. Balloon Fiesta Park. Upon arrival the following weekend we were informed the weather wasn’t cooperating and the balloons were not going to launch. Instead, a handful of die hard pilots were going to attempt a glow for the spectators. A glow is when the balloons inflate but do not launch into the wild blue yonder. Instead they stay on the ground and appear to glow when the pilots ignite the burner and the flame lights up the balloon from the inside. Towering higher than one would expect, people mingled on the field as the pilots and crew members stretched, pulled, held open, inflated and heated the air inside their balloons to make them rise bigger and grander than one could ever imagine. Cameras snapped away as one incredible Albuquerque sunset provided a perfect pink and salmon backdrop for the festivities that Saturday evening.
Inclement weather is always a risk at Balloon Fiesta and chances are there will be at least one or two events that get winded out. As we stood in line for our funnel cakes and mocha latttes we met a family who had come all the way from New Zealand. They said they had planned their trip for three years and it didn’t matter to them if the weather wasn’t cooperating, they were just happy to be a part of all the excitement.
That’s the spirit that built the west.
Please visit www.albuquerquealmanac.net to learn more about the Albuquerque Almanac and purchase a copy for yourself.
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