An 18-hour day that was TOTALLY worth it! We rose at 3:30 a.m. to attend the morning ascension activities and stayed through the final ceremonies. The day started out a bit cloudy, but there was no rain and the balloons were cleared for take-off (we were lucky to be there on Saturday; we heard from others that the Sunday attendees were not so lucky – rain kept the balloons from taking off that day). You wouldn’t believe the number and variety of balloons! This was the 47th year for the Fiesta, and they were expecting 500 balloons this year, 100 of which had special themes. In addition to those you see in the photos below we say a ginormous cow, a pig, penguins, a kitty, a wolf…and every balloon is carrying passengers, anywhere from 4 to 10 people. It is magical to see them all taking shape and quietly lifting off the ground. Each balloon has its own team, as as the balloons take flight you can hear cheers of joy erupting all around you. It’s pretty cool.
There’s a large gap in time between the morning ascension and the Afterglow Party. A lot of people leave and come back, but we chose to stay put for the day. We visited all of the vendor tents, enjoyed some yummy (and not-so-healthy) fair food, and hung out in the beer garden (of course!) with our ever-handy games until it was time for the music part of the festivities. We missed the first band, but the last two were terrific! We saw Michael Ray and Old Dominion. For those country music fans out there, if you aren’t familiar with Old Dominion you should check them out – there were fantastic! And if you’re not a country music fan now, check them out and you just might become one!
It was during the music festival we began to notice how seriously the Fiesta folks take security. We saw bomb squads positioned on hills surrounding the Fiesta grounds, pedestrian patrols, and the mounted police you see in the photo below. We also saw military personnel ready to assist. It was pretty impressive.
The final pictures of today’s blog are of the Afterglow Party. The balloons return to the grounds and wait until it is dusk. The begin to fill the “envelope” of their balloons with hot air, but they are not preparing for take off. They are simply inflating the balloons enough to stand upright. As darkness falls, a command is given and all of the balloons turn their burners up full blast at the same time. It’s really cool. This goes on for about 30-45 minutes. Sometimes it’s a sustained burn, sometimes staccato…it’s beautiful.
Another perfect day!
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