Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (Episode 1.6) - For ten days every year, the skies of Albuquerque, New Mexico, are filled with over seven hundred fifty hot air balloons that come to participate in one of the world’s most unique and beautiful spectacles in the sky-- the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. In this episode, host Guad Venegas shows the audience how easy it is to go from mere spectator to full-on Fiesta participant. As a volunteer member of a balloon chase crew, Guad learns how to set up and launch a balloon, and then chase it through the streets and neighborhoods of Albuquerque to bring it down safely. Afterward, he takes a ride of his own over the Rio Grande and learns how to harness the wind to ‘splash and dash’ gently into the river. Over the course of the ten day festival, Guad meets a number of eccentric personalities--from pin traders to zebra striped balloon air traffic controllers--that make this festival such a unique slice of Americana.