Albuquerque was still a pretty
small town in 1972. Interstate 40 through the mountain pass to the east
was not the super highway that it is today. The Holiday Inn at the junction
of Interstate 40 and 25 just had one wing. Corrales was a sleepy little
community of adobe houses. In fact, there really wasn't much north of Interstate
40.
KOB radio was about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Big doings for Albuquerque. The question was, where to hold to world's largest balloon event? At the new Coronado Mall. As Bill Murtorff reflects in his Freeflight column, the balloons were directed to a dirt area off the end of the parking lot where some plastic tarps had been spread out.
The next winter the world came to Albuquerque for the first ever World Hot Air Balloon Championship. The State Fairgrounds was secured as the balloon launch site. With the arrival of 138 balloons, the Duke City was on the map in a big way. Pilots from 15 countries gathered to compete in the world's largest and most celebrated balloon event ever. Albuquerque became the undisputed Hot Air Balloon Capital of the World. The newly named "International Balloon Fiesta" spent two years at the Fairgrounds.
In 1975 Albuquerque again hosted the World Hot Air Balloon Championship, this time at a new location. After the 1974 event it was decided that the Fairgrounds site was causing too many problems with the nearby airport and military facility. In addition, larger crowds and more balloons required a larger space. An old alfalfa field owned by the Simms family was made available. The new launch field was north of I-40 and would be able to accommodate the growing event.
Fiesta also changed its date from February to October. The new site and new time of year yielded an unexpected resultthe Albuquerque Box. Early morning drainage winds in the Rio Grande Valley, from the Sandia Mountains, and upper level wind patterns combined to allow directional changes during flight. This allowed balloons to land from where they took off.
Fiesta continued to grow. In the fall of 1980, AIBF announced that for 1981 the new Cutter Field would be big enough to accommodate 1,000 balloons. Well, Cutter Field was bigger but, it is doubtful that 1,000 balloons could have squeezed in. Fortunately only a little over 400 balloons entered the event for the next few years. Today Fiesta aficionados know Cutter Field as the south gravel pit. Until a few years ago one could still find the odd tire that marked launch sites at Cutter field.
In 1985, with help from City funding, AIBF moved into Balloon Fiesta Park and their new headquarters building. The new site had been a former landfill. The move came just in time as Fiesta participation grew to 500 and then 600 balloons. Eventually Fiesta would cap the number of participants to 650. Concession row was now a half mile long. Demand for slots to hawk everything from breakfast burritos, to official souvenirs, to the latest in balloon related items outstripped spots available.
Not only was Fiesta growing but Albuquerque was growing as well. Vacant land in every direction was being replaced by factories, warehouses, shopping centers, and housing developments. Corrales today is surrounded by Albuquerque/Rio Rancho. With open space evaporating as fast as water in the desert, AIBF sought help from the State of New Mexico to acquire one of the few large undeveloped parcels leftthe north gravel pit.
This year Fiesta moves to a new home, Balloon Fiesta State Park. The 25th anniversary event has a larger home, more balloons (850), more concessions, and, likely, more visitors.
From a birthday party to a money losing event to the one of the greatest shows on earth, Fiesta as earned its nick nameThe Big One!
