We were meant to attend the The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (AIBF) last year, but then there was COVID. Since Nina and Alex are in their last year of elementary school, we figured that this was our final opportunity to take a long weekend without too many academic set backs. Planning for this event is overwhelming and difficult. I hope that this blog post will help others to organize their trip to the fiesta. For more assistance, read my post about planning tips HERE and my post about what to do between sessions at the fiesta HERE.
DAY 1: Afternoon Session at The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Before the event:
The only direct flight from NYC to Albuqueque these days is a redeye. Though not the easiest choice for kids, we decided that was our best bet for this trip.We arrived at our home for the weekend, Hotel Chaco, after midnight and basically just went to bed. Sleeping in helped all of us adjust to our new surroundings and our new time zone.
Hungry, we went for lunch at The Sawmill Market, which is a food court just across the street from our hotel. It was really nice because as we waited for our food, we could enjoy browsing at the Artisan’s Market and the live music in The Yard. (Read all of the details HERE)
Finally here!
We had General Admissions tickets for the festival that afternoon, and it was the perfect way to experience our first time there. Warned to get to the field really early (to avoid bad traffic and far away parking), we obeyed and went at around 4:00pm. We were there before most of the vendors even! We spent some time (and money!) enjoying the Artisan’s Tent and wandering around the concession stands before the festivities began.
We also had a chance to check out the chainsaw carving event. Sadly, it was not as interesting as we had hoped. Basically we saw three artisans crafting inside a cage surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. For us, there was not much interesting to see at all. Also, the things they were making were too large to even consider bringing home.
Finally, our first session of the AIBF kicked off with skydivers doing their thing to the sounds of the National Anthem!
Dinner
Sitting on the muddy grass, we enjoyed our dinner from the Platero Fry Bread and Navajo Taco (after trying some pretty nasty pizza from a different vendor).
On the field
I found out pretty quickly that the most exciting thing to do (IMHO) at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is to be out on the field. There, you can watch (and even help!) as crews unpack and inflate the balloons. It is a huge undertaking and fascinating to observe!
On the field, you also have a chance to get to know the balloon pilots, crew members and their families. We met plenty of nice people who were willing to share their ballooning histories and experiences. Almost all balloons have a name and an interesting story. Most of the crews give out trading cards for kids to collect, which makes it even more fun to roam the field.
So you’re busy talking to people, collecting cards and absorbing the sights and sounds of the field…and then all of a sudden, you find yourself completely surrounded by MASSIVE balloons! Its amazing!
After dark
Only a few balloons actually go up at night. Most of them just “glow”. The object is for all of them to glow at once, however, on the night we attended, it did not seem to work out as planned. It is magical none-the-less. Another disappointment was the AfterGlow™ Fireworks Show. We waited for the display to begin, but sadly it never did. (NOTE: We heard that the fireworks actually did take place, but they started really late ☹️).
Day 2 : Morning Session at The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Chaser’s Club
We planned to leave our hotel at 4:30AM, but alas, I did not wake up until 4:15. No worries, we got to the park on time. I wanted to get tickets for the Gondola Club for this morning, but they were not available, so we tried The Chaser Club instead. They had a tent with coffee (which is KEY in the frigid pre-dawn hours!) and a second, larger tent featuring a hot food buffet that was unfortunately unappealing to us. (TIP: The coffee area only had half and half or almond milk…but if you go to the oatmeal station in the food tent, you can get actual milk!).
There were a few heat lamps at The Chaser’s Club, but certainly not enough for everyone there to reap the benefits. The bathrooms were clean and the view was great. Club occupancy ebbs and flows throughout the morning, giving you can chance to use the facilities, get a bite to eat or warm up by the heat lamps without a line.
Snacks
When we ventured out for sugar, we were pleasantly surprised to find Tom Thumb. There were many donuts to be had, including Krispy Kreme and Dunkin, but these mini treats, freshly made and piping hot were by far the winners for my family!
In the afternoon, we went for a visit to Old Town, and then to lunch at El Pinto. (Read the details HERE)
DAY 3: Morning with the clouds at The AIBF
pre-flight
We woke up at 4am and packed everything because our flight home to New York was scheduled for noon. It was cold and dark and there was no coffee available at our hotel ☹️. We are troopers and headed out for our final New Mexico excursion.
Rainbow Ryders is the only company permitted to take passengers up in a balloon that launches from the fiesta ground. It is EXTREMELY expensive and I realize that their prices are inflated by at least 50 percent for this event, but it is SO TOTALLY WORTH IT! I had been in a hot air balloon in Utah once many years ago, but that experience, while amazing, didn’t even hold a candle to our flight during the fiesta!
We checked in at the Rainbow Ryder’s tent, grabbed some coffee and waited for about an hour. Then, crew member led us through the jumble of vans and baskets and propane tanks and equipment on the field to our balloon. We met the pilot and his team and watched (and helped a little) as they set up.
Flying!
Eventually, it was finally our time to lift off. There are no words to describe the magic of floating up into the sky with hundreds of other balloons. It was an experience of a lifetime.
We flew for about an hour and landed in some random farmer’s alfalfa farm. Since our basket was relatively large, crews from other balloons that had landed nearby had to help our team. It took a long time for them to move the equipment and pack it into the chaser van that came to meet us.
post-flight
While we waited, our team provided champagne and orange juice which was so nice. They did not have any snacks which was unfortunate because some of us were pretty hangry 😂.. Aside from that, my only complaint is that since we had to wait so long to get the van ready, we were late getting back to the fiesta grounds, which made us anxious about getting to our flight on time (Rainbow Ryders said we would be back by 9, but it was almost 10 when we finally arrived, so plan accordingly).
Final Thoughts
We had an amazing time during our weekend at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I highly recommend that you add this destination to your bucket list. Thanks so much for reading my blog!