I live up in Santa Fe, about an hour’s drive south to Balloon Fiesta Park in Albuquerque. Most years I make that early run before sunrise. The road is quiet, the air is cool, and the Sandias are just dark outlines against the eastern sky.
By the time I roll into town, the burners are already lighting up the field. You can see the orange glow flickering across the valley. I park, step out into the cold, and there it is, that mix of roasting chile, wet grass, and propane. If you have been, you know the smell.
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta started in 1972 with just 13 balloons lifting off from a radio station parking lot. Now it is the biggest hot air balloon event in the world, with more than 500 balloons and crews from everywhere you can think of. For nine days each October, the Rio Grande Valley turns into a sky parade—part circus, part art show, part prayer.
This year, though, the weather didn’t cooperate. Early rains and gusty winds grounded flights a few mornings, and on the last day, Oct. 12, the green flag never went up. Pilots and crews stood by their baskets, eyes on the clouds, waiting for the call that never came. I got there at 4:30 a.m. to beat the traffic, and the field stayed still. Three strikes for 2025. The balloons sat quiet like sleeping giants, a playground for anyone with a camera or a kid’s sense of wonder.
On the good mornings, the Fiesta was pure magic. The zebras waved the go-ahead, burners roared, and the whole field came alive. The sky filled fast—dragons, cows, hearts, and that red and green chile balloon that has become Albuquerque’s mascot. You could feel the joy roll through the crowd. No matter how many times you have seen it, that first liftoff gets you.
And then there is the Splash and Dash, the local favorite. When the winds are calm and the air steady, pilots dip their baskets just enough to kiss the Rio Grande before lifting off again. Done right, it looks effortless, flying turned into poetry.
But ballooning is not a free ride. On Friday, one balloon came down hard in Corrales, and another clipped some power lines on approach. No serious injuries, but it is a reminder that lighter-than-air flight does not forgive complacency. It is all about judgment and timing, reading the wind, trusting your fabric, your flame, and your crew.
When the winds stayed calm, it was perfect. Albuquerque’s morning air is made for it, cool, clean, and steady. That wind pattern they call the Albuquerque Box lets good pilots ride the currents one way, then climb a bit and float right back. When it works, it is like watching nature lend a hand.
At night, the glow shows were a hit as always, hundreds of balloons tethered to the ground, lighting up together like lanterns. Families walked the field, faces warm from the burners, kids wide-eyed. Old guys like me just looking for a place to sit.
Sid Cutter was the spark plug, a pilot’s pilot who turned a one-time balloon launch into an international tradition. Before that, he was a Cessna dealer and owned Cutter Flying Service, one of the busiest aviation outfits in the Southwest. Cutter knew how to bring people to flight, whether it was wings or fabric. He said the goal was simple: Make people happy.
Even grounded by weather, that spirit hung in the air. The high desert will breathe again, and when it does, I will be there, because there is always next year.
I just got back from the Fiesta, another great week of early a.m. wait or fly! Even if we didn’t fly the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets with the clouds this year added to the fun! Got started coming 15 years ago when my good friend and CFII bought a balloon and crewed and flew with him for several years. Now crewing with a couple from Lubbock that have been attending the fiesta since the 70’s. Flew into ABQ SunPort in my trusty Cardinal RG.
Lovely writeup, Raf, it put me right there. The timing was just awful this year with the weather. Here in the Phoenix area it’s been raining on/off for six days and counting – by the inch! – same tropical system the Fiesta has been suffering from.
There’s something magical usually with New Mexico skies – white, bright cotton balls happily floating above like nature’s own Fiesta in clear celeste skies. Just gorgeous.
I’ve used a flight to Hatch a few times for important, life-saving runs to snag a bag of chilies – and visited Spaceport America once. Maybe I’ll get over to the Fiesta sometime. The family and I drove home from a Colorado visit once and saw the sky filled with shapes and colors, but after a few ‘wows’ it was, ‘get us home, dad’ . 🙂
Always enjoyed the photos from this event but never felt the pull to attend. Your description makes me want to. Thanks.
Top shelf report and story. Excellent pictures, inviting new adventures and broadening our understanding of gasbags and the carefull planning needed for a routine flight. Kudos.
Great report, Raf. It reminded me of Tracy Barnes (inventor of the “Barnes Basket” among many other enhancements) who set up his Balloon Works manufacturing shop just down the road from me. In the early ’70s I was one of a ne’er-do-well trio of technical staff at a local college, where we had plenty of time on the night shift to get into any kind of mischief that could be cleaned up by the time the boss came in to work. So of course, we built and had great fun with BlueBox’s.
Tracy was doing a lot of international calling, and long-distance charges were seriously chomping into his bottom line, so we built him one. When he dropped by to pick it up he introduced me to an attractive young Belgian woman who already held a couple of world records in ballooning. At that time she was the balloonist for the blue-with-gold-piping Wrangler balloon that she flew all over the country. Her name was Anneke Sandel.
Tracy passed six years ago. Any balloonist out there know what happened to Anneke?
Thanks to all of you for the kind words and for adding to the color of this year’s Fiesta.
–Karl, sounds like you’ve seen plenty of those early morning wait or fly moments. Glad to hear your Cardinal RG made the trip again and that the spirit is still alive after fifteen years of crewing.
–Dave, you said it right. There’s something about New Mexico skies that is hard to explain until you have been under them. Hope you make it to the Fiesta one of these years and maybe bring a bag of those Hatch chiles along for trading.
–Bobd, glad the story tempted you a little closer. Photos are fine, but standing there as the first burners light is something else entirely.
–Tom, I appreciate the kind words. It is always a mix of beauty and planning that makes ballooning so quietly dramatic.
–And Aviatrexx, the Barnes Basket mention was a good one. Tracy’s work helped shape what ballooning became, and your story brought him and Anneke Sandel, now living in Portugal, right back into view. Thank you for that.
Raf
Very poetic prose. Beautiful pictures. Will need to see it one day.
Thank you, son. Love you!