If this world premiere event is on your bucket list, then join the Escapees RV Club HOP for the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
This fiesta is the only Balloon Fiesta in the world, where the “box effect” comes into play. The “box effect” is a unique wind pattern that helps pilots navigate their balloons in a vertical, rectangular path; allowing them to return to the launch field, or even landing next to your RV.
Each morning, as dawn breaks over the Sandia Mountains, the skies will fill with 600 bright, beautiful hot-air balloons and 700 pilots from all around the globe.
From its humble beginnings, in 1972, the Balloon Fiesta has grown into the largest balloon festival in the world, with its 365-acre Balloon Fiesta Park and a launch field the size of 54 football fields (78 acres). It is also the most photographed hot-air balloon festival in the world, with a whopping 886,414 attendees in 2021.
This fiesta also hosts the America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Race, with the winner being the one that has traveled the farthest. Gas balloons in the past have gone as far as the East Coast and across Canada, and you can track their progress in this race on the official Fiesta website.