Our six week road trip out west ends with a visit to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, a nine day event held each October.
Balloon Fiesta has been on Stephanie’s bucket list for a long time. We first came to Balloon Fiesta in 2022, but on the one day we were in town bad weather prevented any balloons from flying. Praying for a miracle we nevertheless went to Balloon Fiesta Park, wondered around a bit in the dark, and left.
This year we planned a two day stay in Albuquerque to minimize the chances of weather ruining it for us. Because the extended weather forecast was good, we skipped Balloon Fiesta on our first morning in town, instead opting to attend the Flight of the Nations Mass Ascension on Wednesday.
As this was our second visit to the park, we somewhat knew what to expect. We spent the night at a hotel near the airport, leaving at about 5:00 AM. From there it took us 15 minutes to make the 13 mile trip to Balloon Fiesta Park: Interstate 15 North to the Alameda exit; turn left onto Alameda; and, make a right turn onto San Mateo. Once we hit a line of slow moving traffic on San Mateo it took another 30 minutes to actually get parked.
Overall the traffic flowed really well. Cops, flashing lights, and orange cones were everywhere. It felt like Albuquerque mastered traffic flow for the event. Parking is cash only ($20) and you will be directed to a parking spot. There is no driving around looking for a spot. You park where you are told.
Other transportation options include a park and ride shuttle or Uber. Park and ride shuttles do not operate on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, so the shuttles were not an option for us. Note that the shuttles sell combination ride and event tickets. I’m not sure you can buy a ride only ticket if you otherwise have an event ticket.
Uber is also a possibility as there is a dedicated ride share drop off and pick up location. We did not check the prices, but I doubt that rides to and from the park will total much less than the $20 it costs to park. Sure you don’t have to wait in a long line of cars to park, but it is not that bad.
Our parking spot was at most a five minute walk from the nearest entrance gate. Bags are checked and a walk through a metal detector is required. There was no line when we approached the entrance gate a little before 6:00 AM.
We bypassed tent row (coffee, donuts, funnel cakes, burgers, brats, turkey legs, corn dogs, cokes, beer, and turquoise jewelry) and walked straight out onto the grass field. It’s larger than a football field, and there is no real sense of where you should go.
Dawn Patrol starts at 6:00 AM, which is basically about a half dozen balloons taking off early and checking out flying conditions in advance. When we arrived only Dawn Patrol balloons were being inflated, attracting quite a bit of the crowd.
At 6:00 AM in the morning it is still cold and dark. There are no lights in the field. There are, however, a lot of people sitting on blankets on the ground drinking coffee. You’ll need to pay careful attention in the early AM hours to avoid walking into people randomly sitting on the ground.
If you are cold, get near a balloon that is being inflated. Those flamethrowers put off a lot of heat.
Morning Glow is scheduled for 6:30 AM, but I’m not sure it is that coordinated. Basically this is when the balloons first scheduled to take off start inflating. The glow is from the flamethrowers illuminating the colorful nylon balloons. The only time there was a coordination to the glow was when the national anthem ended.
By this time sunrise is underway so you can see at least where you are walking.
If you want to avoid a lot of the crowd, stay away from the Dawn Patrol balloons. Begin your morning with a coffee or hot chocolate before wandering onto the field later.
Flight of the Nations Mass Ascension involves hundreds of balloons taking flight in about a two-hour window starting at 7:00 AM. International crews are recognized by the national flags on their balloons. I’m sure there is some sort of traffic control that directs and coordinates launch times, but I have no idea how that is handled. It is not apparent from the ground.
Balloons are being laid out in the grass, ropes set up, gondolas put in place, and fans turned on to start inflating. Then come the flamethrowers and, finally, takeoff. Watch where you are walking and pay attention to the balloon crews. They will direct you to avoid certain areas, if necessary, during launch preparations.
We ended up walking towards whatever section of the field seemed to have the most activity at the time. By 7:30 AM it did not seem to matter where you are on the field. Balloons are everywhere. Your best bet is probably to select a section of the field and just camp out in that area until the balloons have flown before moving on.
Once the balloons start flying, the chase vehicles start following. Watch out for the pickup trucks driving off the field.
In many ways it was more enjoyable once a lot of the balloons had launched, as there is more room on the field to walk around and spread out.
Because we had a long drive to Oklahoma City, we left the park about 8:00 AM, just in time for rush hour traffic. We should have gotten a hot drink and stayed a little longer.
But before we leave Albuquerque, a couple of restaurant mentions. We’re not foodies by any stretch, but occasionally happen upon a restaurant that is so good we cannot help but mention it.
Spinn’s Burger & Beer has our favorite Hatch green chile burgers in Albuquerque. We eat here every time we pass through Albuquerque. Hatch green chiles are probably New Mexico’s most well known food export, and the extra kick in spice it gives burgers is just perfect.
Padilla’s Mexican Food Restaurant, a/k/a Padilla’s New Mexican Kitchen, may be our new favorite restaurant in Albuquerque. New Mexican cuisine, as we understand it, is a Native / Spanish / Mexican fusion with a strong influence from green chiles. We stopped by Padilla’s one night for dinner because we were in the area and the reviews were fantastic. Thankfully we only had a short wait. The restaurant is small and fills quickly. Expect a line unless you arrive really early.
Basically Padilla’s blends traditional Mexican staples (tacos, burritos, enchiladas) with New Mexican chiles. The menu is small, which we appreciate. Padilla’s isn’t trying to do too much. Get the Carne Adovada special. It’s the best. The only minor downside is that the restaurant is cash only.
On future trips through Albuquerque, Padilla’s is our new go to restaurant, if we arrive early enough and have cash on hand.
Garrett and Stephanie
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Beautiful photography!
Love this. It brought back many memories! We did two balloon rides years ago. One went about two blocks in two hours, the other crash landed 30 miles away. Broken ribs, scrapes and bruises. But there was champagne served at the end! You just never know!! But they are such a marvelous sight to see. The Battle Creek Festival was always awesome and many would touch down to the water on our little lake. We’d be on our little dock and could talk with the operators. The dogs went crazy, especially when they gassed their balloons to go back up!