New Mexico sees 50th launch of world's biggest balloon festival

Hundreds of hot air balloons lifted off this weekend, marking the start of an annual fiesta that has drawn pilots and spectators from across the globe to New Mexico’s high desert for 50 years now.

Tens of thousands of people packed the field, wide-eyed with necks craned as they tried to soak in the spectacle.

As one of the most photographed events in the world, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has become an economic driver for the state’s largest city and a rare - and colorful - opportunity for enthusiasts to be within arm’s reach as the giant balloons are unpacked and inflated.

Three of the original pilots who participated in the first fiesta in 1972 and the family members of others are among this year’s attendees. That year, 13 balloons launched from an open lot near a shopping center on what was then the edge of Albuquerque. It has since grown into a multimillion-dollar production.

This year will mark Roman Müller’s first time flying in the fiesta. He’s piloting a special-shaped balloon that was modeled after a chalet at the top of a famous Swiss bobsled run. One of his goals will be flying over the Rio Grande and getting low enough to dip the gondola into the river.

One thing that helps, he said, is the phenomenon known as the Albuquerque box — when the wind blows in opposite directions at different elevations, allowing skillful pilots to bring a balloon back to near the point of takeoff.

Dennis said it took a few years of holding the fiesta to realize the predictability of the wind patterns allowed for balloons to remain close to the launch field, giving spectators quite a show.

More than 20 countries are represented this year, including Switzerland, Australia, Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Taiwan and Ukraine.

It also serves as the launching venue for the America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race, one of the world’s premier distance races for gas balloons.



Nicole Tagart, a launch official with the 50th annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, signals a balloonist to take off in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)

The flame of a gas burner helps inflate a hot air balloon as part of a re-enactment of the first Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in 1972 during a special event at Coronado Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Hundreds of hot air balloons will be lifting off over the nine-day annual fiesta that has drawn pilots and spectators from across the globe for 50 years. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Balloons rise during a mass ascension at the 50th annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. (Roberto E. Rosales/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)