Saturday, October 01, 2005

Balloon Fiesta

Today was the official opening day of the 34th Annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. This time of year is always exciting. For weeks prior to the actual start you can see the city starting to prepare for the 100's of thousands of visitors to flock to Albuquerque from all over the world. Banners being hung in front of restaurants all over town proclaiming "Welcome Balloonists".
Yesterday was the un-official opening day. But ask any elementary school student and they'll tell you there's nothing better. The Friday before Balloon Fiesta begins balloons take off from local elementary schools all over the city. Yesterday was no exception. 100 balloons lifted off from the ground of elementary schools all over the city. 4 flew over our house alone yesterday morning, and when I saw them all together on the horizon I knew that Balloon Fiesta had begun and a sudden joy and giddiness came to my heart! This is such a big event that the schools get Fall Break this time of year. Next week all the schools will be out Wednesday-Friday for Balloon Fiesta. (Reminds me of spud harvest in Idaho, but they get two weeks...hmm...)

The Balloons are made of silk. Over 700 balloons filled the sky this morning. 91 of them being special shapes, 17 more special shapes than last year! There are balloons from Canada, Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan and others. Plus from States all over the country. The crowd is down on the field right next to the deflated silk balloons laid out neatly on the grass. You can walk right up to them. You stand near the balloons as they are being filled with hot air, and after about 20-30 minutes the balloons start to lift off the ground. Everyone around that balloon cheers as if floats into the air. The local NBC news station broadcasts the Mass Ascension. This year we sat on the couch and watch all the balloons rise.
My very first memory of Balloon Fiesta would have been October 2002. We were living in Phoenix. I was pregnant with my first baby due in November. My husband had just been offered a job in Albuquerque, but we wouldn't be moving till after the baby was born. We needed to find a place to live first so the second weekend of October we drove to Albuquerque to look for an apartment. The company helped us out by booking a hotel room for us for the weekend but had informed us that it was difficult because there was a big event happening the same weekend so rooms were scarce. But they did find one for us. We drove to Albuquerque on a Friday night. Saturday morning we woke up and opened the curtains to see the sky full of hot air balloons. It was a really amazing sight! We found an apartment and then drove back to Phoenix. But as we drove back we knew we were looking forward to moving here and seeing all those hundreds of balloons again.
Our first year of actually living in Albuquerque during Balloon Fiesta our son wasn't even a year old yet. It was a very cold, wet and rainy October weekend and we felt better just watching the balloons on t.v. and running out into the front yard to try to see them all. On the morning of the Special Shapes Rodeo we drove to a road overlooking the field and watched all the special shapes fill the sky. Certain nights through out the week they do a “Night Glow”. That’s where all the balloons are on the field, and after sunset they just let out the burn but don’t leave the ground. We haven’t been to that yet. Maybe this year we will. I’ve seen pictures of it, and seen it on t.v. but I doubt it does it justice for being there in person.
But last year we went to the field. (And we plan to do the same thing this year, just it wasn't today). My parents and my mom's parents had come down for a visit specifically the weekend of Balloon Fiesta. We drove to the mall at 4:30 am, loaded up on a bus and went to the Balloon Park. It’s completely dark. The dawn patrol was about to lift off. That's 5 balloons that lift off right before sun-rise to check the wind speeds. One also has the American flag dangling down beneath the basket and the National Anthem is sung. Quickly the field begins to fill up with people. Everywhere you look there are balloons draped across the land. As the sun begins to rise balloons begin to fill with air. My daughter was only 2 1/2 months old and was strapped to my chest in a Bjorn. My son was placed on top of my husbands shoulders. He was about a month and half away from turning two and didn't really have too large of a vocabulary. Every time a balloon lifted off from the ground he'd start screaming and shouting "ball! ball!" We never could figure out if he was scared, excited, didn't want the balloons to go or what. By the time the last balloon lifted off 3 hours later he seemed to be fine with it. My parents and my grandparents were like little kids. They had never seen anything so amazing. To be on the ground right next to the balloons as they filled with air and lifted off was an experience to remember for them.

Every balloon has a "chase team". This is a group of people that help the pilots get the balloon off the air and then once the balloon is in the air they all load up into their truck and chase the balloon around the city ready for its landing. Once the balloon is in the air it is at the mercy of the wind direction. Yes there is something called the Albuquerque Box which allows the balloons to travel in one direction then rise in elevation and then go back to where they started, but a lot of pilots like to travel a little. Some like to dip the basket into the Rio Grande River and then rise again. Some just like to float on the breeze. The Chase crew has to be ready for the balloon at any minute. There are areas around the city where they are not allowed to land, so sometimes they have to quickly let the air out of the balloon in order to land in a safe place. In 2003 we saw a balloon take a hard landing right on our street. Everyone was safe, but when that basket hits the ground you wonder.

Of course there are accidents, but the percentage of those is quite slim. The most memorable was last year on the very last day of Fiesta. Smokey Bear balloon got blown by a sudden gust into a radio tower. The balloon was ripped to shreds and the pilot and two children had to climb 1000 feet down the radio tower to the ground. Happy ending to this story though, Smokey Bear was repaired and he flew again today.

Last night on the news they interviewed visitors from other countries. Brazil, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium. They all said that there is nothing in the world like Albuquerque, and nothing like the Fiesta that they throw here every year. This is something that we want to share with our family and friends. It is such a unique experience that we want everyone we know to have been a part of it. They said today that many people that come to Fiesta are people that once lived in Albuquerque but have moved away. But every year they plan their return visit during Balloon Fiesta. There's just something about seeing 700+ balloons in the air. I have a feeling that if we ever do move away from Albuquerque we will come back to visit during the first week of October! Tonight is the Gordon Bennet Gas Balloon Race Competition. They use helium in these balloons. It’s an endurance race. Two pilots per balloon. The race is to see how far and how fast each balloon can fly. Every year we hear a few days later of balloons landing in different areas back east. It will be exciting to see how far the winner travels this year!

As we watched the balloons ascend into the sky on t.v. this morning my son grew more and more excited with every one. Pointing them out, telling me the colors, or for the special shapes the animal, or shape it was. The crowd favorite of course is the Cream land Dairy Cow. It’s the biggest balloon on the field measuring 120 ft long and 80 ft tall. It has the best smile seen on a cow ever!


We plan on going this week down to the field and be among the balloons. Even though we see balloons on an almost daily basis throughout the year, this is something that you have to be a part of. Something we must have our children be a part of. They will treasure these memories of images of brightly colored balloons floating through the air for the rest of their lives! As will we, as will we!!



(All pictures were taken by me during Opening Day of Balloon Fiesta 2004)

Posted by ABQ Mom :: 10/01/2005 08:46:00 AM :: 12 Comments:

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