Gondola Club tickets are non-refundable, except in the event of the complete closure of the Gondola Club.

Cancelled Balloon Session

Occasionally the weather prohibits the launch or inflation of balloons must most often when there are poor weather conditions a session will be delayed. The Gondola Club will stay open at these times, and your tickets are still valid, as the meal and other services will still be offered. If the session has been officially cancelled, you will be issued a “Rain Check” in the form of General Admission tickets, allowing you to visit the Balloon Fiesta at another time within that same year. Your “Rain Check” allows general admission to the balloon event, not to the Gondola Club. Refunds are not available for the cancellation of a balloon session.

Cancelled Gondola Club Session

While the weather may occasionally prohibit a ballooning session from taking place, it is rare that the Gondola Club will be closed entirely. This will only happen if the Balloon Fiesta Park is deemed unsafe by Safety Officials, or the area has been damaged by weather and management determines that it is not hospitable for service.

If, at the time of your scheduled session, the weather appears that it may interfere with the event, please do one of the following:

If your Gondola Club session is cancelled, the following option is available:

For any questions about your Gondola Club visit, www.balloonfiesta.com or email us at gondolaclub@balloonfiesta.com, or call (505) 821-1000. For technical questions regarding tickets, please contact us at tickets@balloonfiesta.com or by phone at (888) 441.4364.

1. You will receive a confirmation email and be issued a QR code for each ticket purchased. The QR code  can be printed or downloaded to your electronic device and will be scanned when you enter the Gondola Club. 
2. We will mail you a packet that includes your parking pass, map and FAQs. 
3. Packets will be mailed by USPS.  For tracking purposes, international packages will require a signature upon delivery.

PLEASE NOTE:  We will email a notification to you once your Gondola Club Packet is en route. It is also very important that you provide your SHIPPING ADDRESS at the time of your ticket purchase to ensure that we mail your pack to the correct address.        

Gondola Packet will be mailed via USPS within two weeks of your purchase. We will email a notification to you once your Gondola Club Packet is en route.  Your packet will include parking passes and driving instructions.  We highly recommend that you store your Gondola Club packet in a secure location and treat it as you would any valuable. 

When entering the park, please have your parking pass visible so the parking team can direct you to the Gondola Club parking area.  The QR code on your Gondola Club ticket will be scanned at the Gondola Club entrance and you will be issued a wristband. 

We will not mail Gondola Club Packets for purchases made after September 19, 2025.  Below are ways to get your Gondola Club Packet after September 20th:  

1. Pick-up your packet at the Balloon Fiesta office (4401 Alameda Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113) Monday - Friday from 8am to 5pm. During the Balloon Fiesta October 4-12 from 8am-5pm. 
2. Use a courier service.  Please note, we cannot guarantee service by independent businesses.  If you opt to hire a delivery service you will be hiring them directly and not through Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. 

Metrolink Courier, Inc
Phone: 505-271-8868
Contact: Mark Miglaccio
Email: metrolinkabq@gmail.com

Call for pricing

PLEASE PLAN TO HAVE YOUR GONDOLA CLUB PACKET AT LEAST 12 HOURS BEFORE YOUR SESSION.  It is not possible to come to the Balloon Fiesta office to pick up your packet, then drive to the Gondola Club. The traffic routes prohibit access. 

A specific parking pass is required to access the Balloon Fiesta Park and the Gondola Club parking lot. You will not be allowed to access these areas without this pass.  Due to the size of the Gondola Club parking lot, we can only issue 1 parking pass for every 4 people in a group, as follows:

1-4 people - 1 parking pass
5-8 people - 2 parking passes
9-12 people - 3 parking passes

If your parking pass is lost or stolen, replacement parking passes may be purchased for $75 each. (Replacement parking passes require proof of ticket purchase.)

Additional parking is available for our General Parking area for $20 per car, per session. Note that General Parking is not located near the Gondola Club.

We will not mail out parking passes for purchases made after September 19, 2025.

It is necessary that we mail the Gondola Club parking pass via regular mail, rather than email. However, after September 19, we no longer mail passes as our guests may not receive them, due to travel plans or delivery delays. Below are the ways you can get your parking passes after September 19:

1. Pick up your tickets at the Balloon Fiesta office (4401 Alameda Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113)
   Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm
   During Balloon Fiesta: October 4 - October 12 from 8:00am to 5:00pm
2. Use a courier service. Please note that we cannot guarantee service by independent businesses. If you opt to hire them for delivery, you will be hiring them directly, and not through Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Metrolink Courier, Inc. Phone number: (505) 271-8868
Contact person: Mark Migliaccio
Email: metrolinkabq@gmail.com 
Call for pricing.

PLEASE PLAN TO HAVE YOUR PARKING PASS AT LEAST 12 HOURS BEFORE YOUR SESSION. It’s not possible to come to the Balloon Fiesta offices to get your pass, then drive directly to the Gondola Club. The traffic routes prohibit access.

The menus vary through the 9-day event, and due to seasonality and market changes, we do not publish the menus in advance. However, below are sample menus, to give you an idea of the selection offered at a morning or evening session.

If you attend a morning session, BREAKFAST is included:

If you attend an evening session, DINNER is included

The Gondola Club is able to accommodate some dietary restrictions (such as vegetarian, gluten free, dairy-free, or egg free). However, due to the nature of the event, we’re unable to accommodate more stringent restrictions.  

No. Balloon Fiesta is held at a city park, so most of the venues at the event are temporarily housed in festival tents. The Gondola Club includes a large tent, which houses the welcome desk, gift shop and food service.  The overall Gondola Club capacity is 600+.  

Both the Gondola Club and Chasers’ Club are ticket-only dining areas. Below is a comparison of inclusions.

While we endeavor to provide an upscale experience at the Gondola Club, the atmosphere is definitely casual. The Balloon Fiesta is ultimately a very large balloon rally,  which is an outdoor event. Gondola Club seating is outdoors on grass.

Additionally, New Mexico is very casual. Jeans, jackets, sweatshirts, and relaxed wear are entirely appropriate.

None of the tickets for Balloon Fiesta include balloon rides. Rides must be purchased separately and are available through our official ride concession, Rainbow Ryders. 

We do not recommend booking a balloon flight on the same morning that you’d like to visit the Gondola Club. 

When taking a balloon ride, you need to arrive at the Rainbow Ryders tent very early. The Gondola Club and Rainbow Ryders are located on opposite sides of the field from each other. This makes it unfeasible to park in the Gondola Club parking lot, and then make your way across the field to arrive in time for your flight.

Additionally, your balloon ride may last a while and take you a considerable distance from the park. Packing up the balloon and returning to the field through traffic takes time and may not allow you to return to Balloon Fiesta Park until after 10:00 a.m. The breakfast buffet closes at 9:30 a.m. and the Gondola Club closes at 10:00 a.m. We are unable to extend buffet or Gondola Club hours in order to accommodate late arrivals.

The Balloon Fiesta event takes places over the course of 9 days. We refer to the entire 9-day span as “the event,” which consists of 14 “sessions” – 9 morning sessions and 5 evening sessions.

A session is made up of a variety of activities within a 4-5 hour span. A separate ticket is required for each session. While we do not clear the field between the morning and evening sessions, we do close the Gondola Club and the Gondola Club parking lot. There are no activities on the field (with a few exceptions – see the Event Schedule for more detail), most concessionaires are closed, and most everyone leaves the park.

In the mornings, the balloons are scheduled to fly – weather permitting. The balloons inflate on the field, and fly from the park in waves. 

The evening events consist of balloon glows, where the balloons inflate and stay tethered on the ground. The “glow” happens when the pilot lights the balloon burner – the balloon glows as long as the burner is lit. Glows are also weather dependent. They are also followed by a drone show and fireworks.

Any day and any session is a great time to attend! There are some variations to the schedule, but all of the events are stunning.

If your schedule allows, we recommend attending at least one morning session and one evening session. They are very different events, and you don’t want to miss either!

During the Mass Ascension, over 550 balloons launch in waves from Balloon Fiesta Park. The launch starts at approximately 7:00 a.m. takes 90-120 minutes. The Mass Ascensions take place on both weekends and on Wednesday.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are competition days. A common, but incorrect, assumption is that the Mass Ascensions are “better” than the competition days. That couldn’t be further from the truth!

Over 550 balloons fly at every event, whether it’s a mass ascension or competitions. They just fly in different formats. On the competition days, approximately 300 balloons launch at 7:00 a.m. When the competition starts at 8:00 a.m., the remaining 250+ balloons are split into 2 groups – 1 group launch from Balloon Fiesta Park and flies to targets off-site; the other group launches off-site and flies to targets located at Balloon Fiesta Park.

On the competition days, the balloons tend to be at the park much later than on the Mass Ascension days. The crowds also tend to be lighter on Competition days.

On Thursday and Friday, the Special Shape balloons are featured. Special Shape balloons participate throughout the week, but some of the newest designs arrive mid-week and are featured through the rest of the event. On Thursday and Friday, they inflate and launch with the non-competition balloons, and are then followed by the competitions.

In summary, all 550+ balloons fly each morning (weather permitting), but the schedule format changes on various days.

There are various weather conditions that make it unsafe for balloons to inflate or fly. Balloon Fiesta officials will always put safety first and foremost when considering whether to delay or cancel a flight.

Balloons fly using the hot air inside the “envelope” to create “lift.” They “steer” using wind currents at various altitudes. Wind speeds of more than 10 miles per hour make inflation and flight unsafe.

It may be deceiving if the weather at ground-level appears to be calm. But the winds at higher elevations, known as the “winds aloft,” may be too strong for safe flight. In those conditions, pilots may opt to inflate their balloons but stay “static” on the ground.

When we mail your parking pass to you, we will include a driving map to get you to the Gondola Club parking lot.

It is very important you follow the directions that we mail to you. The entrance to the Gondola Club is a back entrance into Balloon Fiesta Park and will not be obvious on city maps or using GPS. If you follow the route to Balloon Fiesta General Parking, you will be on the wrong side of the park, at which point, there is no way for us to re-route you to the Gondola Club parking lot. You’ll then have to park in General Parking and make your way to the Gondola Club.

Do not ask your hotel front desk for directions. They will likely give you directions to the Balloon Fiesta General Parking route.

Balloon Fiesta has general event Courtesy Shuttles that service the park and parking lots. And the Gondola Club has Courtesy Shuttles that service Gondola Club guests only. Both fleets are comprised of 4- and 6-passenger golf carts.

The event Courtesy Shuttles run between the parking lots and Balloon Fiesta Park. They are intended primarily to assist those with mobility issues.

The Gondola Club Courtesy Shuttles are for Gondola Club guests only, and offer transport from the Gondola Club to 3 locations – the North Information Booth on Main Street, the South Information Booth on Main Street and the Gondola Club parking lot. Due to heavy pedestrian traffic and other limitations, Gondola Club Courtesy Shuttles are only available for pick-up and delivery to those locations.

When you receive your mailing, a phone number will be included. If you happen to park at a parking lot other than the Gondola Club lot, or if you’ve been dropped off on Main Street, you can call that number and the Gondola Club will dispatch a Gondola Club Courtesy Shuttle as soon as one is available. Again, due to heavy pedestrian traffic, it may take a while for the cart to arrive. Please be patient.