Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, New Mexico

New Mexico boasts many things; red & green chile, breaking bad, White Sands, Roswell, Meow Wolf in Santa Fe and the Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. Hosted in October of every year, drawing thousands of visitors and spectators from all over the world. It is the largest hot air balloon festival in the world and certainly worth seeing if you ever get the chance.

Until I was about nine years old, my family lived in Albuquerque and I had the joy of seeing these balloons every October. I sometimes watched them from afar and sometimes I got the chance to see them up close in personal right down on the field as they inflated in the darkness of the early morning.

We would stand there in the cold eating our breakfast burritos and sipping our hot chocolate as we watched them slowly float away. Watching hundreds and hundreds of balloons fill the sky as the sun rose up over the Sandia Mountains was always a magical experience.

I recently had the chance to go back and attend the International Balloon Festival in Albuquerque and wanted to share some local tips that I know to be tried and true. It is a really amazing experience and definitely worth checking out but it’s always better to come prepared cause it can get overwhelming very quickly.

1. Be sure to arrive extra early… I mean like its still dark out early. The park fills up really quickly & if you are coming all the way to witness it anyways, you wanna avoid the parking or even the park & ride crowds. You can also find a picnic table to sit and relax as you wait for the balloons to get the all-clear to take off.

2. Also, be aware that weather can affect whether the balloons go up or not. It’s generally okay most days but inevitably every year there are 1 or 2 days that it just doesn’t happen so if you can spare a couple of days in Albuquerque to plan for that, I recommend it.

3. Be sure to dress warmly in layers because it is always chilly in the mornings but as the sun comes up it gets hot really quickly and you will want to shed those layers as fast as humanly possible.

4. Thousands upon thousands of people come to this event so make sure you have a plan to find each other if you get lost and don’t have cell service.

5. Enjoy yourself! This is New Mexico, the state bird is a roadrunner, the state plant is a Yucca and the state question is “Red or Green?” If you need some Restaurant recommendations for you trip to Albuquerque, you can find some here.