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Extra, extra: There's more to Balloon Fiesta than mass ascensions
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In 2016, her first year in the artisans tent at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, stained glass artist Tamara Phillips-Kingery put out 75 of her ornamental balloons for the first morning session.
鈥淭hey were gone in a couple of hours,鈥� she said. 鈥淓very year, I put out more balloons on the first day, and every year we sell out. This year, I鈥檒l have around 300 balloons out when we start the show.鈥�
Extra, extra: There's more to Balloon Fiesta than mass ascensions
Phillips-Kingery, owner of Rio Rancho鈥檚 Celtic Moon Studios, is one of about 30 artists and crafts persons who inhabit the Artisans at Balloon Fiesta tent at Balloon Fiesta Park during the course of the event. They come from throughout out the country and offer a diverse variety of arts and crafts.
鈥淭here are metal artists, jewelers, people who work in clay, pressed flowers, candles.鈥� Phillips-Kingery said. 鈥淭he vibe among the artists is very much family. We look out for each other. I鈥檒l tell a customer, 鈥楳y stuff won鈥檛 work for you, but this person over here has what you want.鈥� There鈥檚 something for everyone.鈥�
Phillips-Kingery creates her stained glass art in many special shapes other than balloons.
鈥淲e sell everything 鈥� bats, pumpkins, Thanksgiving and Christmas, beetles, bees, dragonflies and flowers,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut the balloon items are the bestsellers. I put year charms on the balloons and I have people come back year after year to add to their collection.鈥�
The artisans鈥� tent is representative of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta as a whole. It鈥檚 not just mass ascensions and balloon glows. There are chainsaw wood carvers, skydivers, fireworks, drone light shows.
On the north side of the field, just west of the artisans鈥� tent, is the Balloon Discovery Center.
鈥淥ur mission is to inspire a love of ballooning for the next generation,鈥� said Tracey Hawkins, who is in her second year as the Discovery Center manager.
Hawkins said adults come into the Discovery Center to look around, but the center鈥檚 target audience are kids from the upper elementary grades to middle school.
Exhibits include 鈥淧arts of a Balloon,鈥� which has large graphics detailing how a balloon is constructed; 鈥淎lbuquerque Box,鈥� an interactive exhibit that shows how Albuquerque鈥檚 unique wind patterns make the city ideal for hot-air ballooning; and 鈥淲icker Weaving,鈥� which gives visitors a chance to weave wicker into a balloon gondola, or at least a portion of one.
鈥淲e have a balloon, inflated by fans, inside the center that kids and families can walk inside of,鈥� Hawkins said. 鈥淲e have new interactive touch screens that show how weather affects ballooning.
鈥淲e have one interactive simulator that gives six players four minutes to land a balloon at Fiesta Park. It鈥檚 about the winds. If I鈥檓 on the south side of a field, I need a north wind to push me to the target.鈥�
Hawkins said an arts and crafts section offers children the chance to color and doodle. She said kids under 12 are given a passport when they enter the center, and if they get that marked at seven of the Discovery Center鈥檚 activities, they get to choose a prize.
鈥淚t gets a little crazy,鈥� Hawkins said. 鈥淲e had 38,000 people enter the tent last year. If you are not good at the simulators, you can go draw and doodle.鈥�
Melissa Bond is the Globitos balloonmeister at the fiesta. Globitos are remote-controlled hot air balloons that are one-fourth the size of full-size balloons. They don鈥檛 carry passengers. In fact, they don鈥檛 get off a tether at the fiesta. Globitos鈥� propane tanks are operated by remote control.
鈥淲e show our balloons and keep the crowds on the field to share ballooning with children and adults,鈥� Bond said. 鈥淭he advantage of Globitos is that they are very attractive and very approachable because they are smaller. It is easier for people to come up to us and talk about ballooning.鈥�
She said some people prefer flying Globitos by remote control to operating a full-sized balloon from a gondola.
鈥淚t is just easier to put the envelope and basket in the car and go to a park and fly,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is not as expensive as the big balloons, and we can repair rips (in the balloons) ourselves.鈥�
There will be 78 Globitos at the fiesta this year. They will be on display from 7:30-11 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6, Wednesday, Oct. 9, and Friday, Oct. 11. The Globitos will do a balloon glow at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12.
She said about 15 of the Globitos at this year鈥檚 fiesta will be special shapes. There will be returning favorites such as Peter Porker, a pig, and Airiel, a unicorn. New shapes expected at the fiesta are Biscuit, a dog; Dolly, a donkey; and Zozobra.
