ABQ Balloon Festival

[chrispratt]

I have never attended the Albuquerque Balloon Festival and have a question for those of you who have. If I want to take in a day or two of the festival prior to attending LOE, do you recommend using Double Eagle (AEG) Airport for my RV or is there a better spot? Any favorite FBO?

I'm thinking of flying in on Thursday morning and spending Friday and early Saturday at the balloon fest and then treking to LOE for the dinner. If you think it's just too massive an event to do it that quickly let me know.

Thanks.

Chris

[MCA]

AEG is your best bet because they'll have rental cars but fuel prices are high. Mid Valley E98 has the best prices around.

That itinerary is very doable! Wx can be spotty around here that time of year though.

[N79PT]

Hi Chris, we went in 2007 for one morning. It is a fantastic experience with the dawn patrol launch followed by the mass ascent. You have to get up early, but the bus from the west side worked well with avoiding the traffic and the parking. We didn't go in '08 as the balloons were flying over the house in Corrales all the time and landing in the neighbors yard, the field up the street, near the store, and at the school across the road. It was pretty cool helping those guys bring down the air bag in a slow and careful technique. Observing the dawn patrol from from your rooftop is really wild with the dangling strobe light miles in the distance followed by an unpredictable burst of burning gas that totally lights up what was previously an invisible object.

We haven't done any of the other activities that the city advertises for the fiesta so all I can say is in my opinion one day will probably be enough.

Double Eagle is probably the most convenient place with car rentals, but not cheap gas. Let me know when you're coming in and I'll try to meet you.
--Greg



We just moved here two years ago, so I'm no expert on the area. Hopefully Brian Denk will weigh in on his experiences.

[Ron Lee]

It is well worth attending. I don't know if they still do a fireworks display but one I saw years ago was excellent.

[Bugsy]

You could easily see the Friday night "Night Glow" when all the balloons fire up while remaining on the ground in a spectacular show. The balloons take off early in the morning just as the sun comes up. You could watch them take off and then drive down to Moriarty for LOE. Both events are alot of fun.


Here is a link to a photo we took at lasts years Balloon night glow

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

[chrispratt]

Thanks everyone, I'm getting psyched just hearing the descriptions. Let's hope the rain (that always seems to appear during LOE) will stay away.

Chris

[Loboflyer]

As Seth pointed out, cars and rooms get snagged quickly in Albuquerque during the fiesta (rooms command a premium price too).

Bode is the only FBO at AEG. I used to rent from them, but don't know much about their service. Last time I was in there, they seemed helpful, but I now rent from the much cheaper aero club on base. Also note that the control tower is operational, and at our last aero club meeting, one of the controllers mentioned that some pilots haven't noticed and still call their pattern on the old CTAF frequency. (Try looking at current charts, dummies!!)

Definitely plan for more than one day, if only because of weather. The week before the fiesta is always good weather and the week after is always good weather -- but the week of the fiesta magically gets worse. Only in New Mexico do otherwise normal people schlep themselves out of bed at 4 AM to go out in the cold dark morning to watch pockets of hot air rise out of a big grass field. Bring your camera(s)... the colors are spectacular!

Bring your appetite for our local specialty: breakfast burritos with red or green chile. I like green, with bacon.

Make sure to dress in layers. Its usually cold (hat & gloves WX) before the sun rises, then it gets a little colder, and then it usually warms up to sweatshirt weather or better.

The official balloon fiesta web page is http://www.balloonfiesta.com/

I highly recommend the park & ride shuttles instead of fussing with traffic and parking at the event.