Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Announces 2022 Final Event Numbers

November 8, 2022

Final Numbers: Following are the official numbers for the 50^thAlbuquerque International Balloon Fiesta held October 1-9, 2022.

• Total number of registered hot air balloons: 648
• Total number of registered special shape balloons: 118 (19 new to Balloon Fiesta)
• Total number of registered primary pilots: 648
• Total number of estimated guest-visits: 828,800
• Total number of media organizations: 158
• Total number of registered media representatives: 775
• Number of Balloon Fiesta Live Impressions: 1,640,602

Total numbers of countries represented (registered pilots): 20 - Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Event Sessions: Eight of the 14 sessions were cancelled due to poor weather conditions and will count as rain check events (10/1 evening, 10/2 evening, 10/3 morning, 10/5 morning, 10/6 evening, 10/7 evening, 10/8 morning, and 10/8 evening).

America’s Challenge: America’s Challenge Gas Race was cancelled this year due to poor weather conditions.

Balloon Competition Winners: The first prize in the hot air overall competition was awarded to Alan Anderson of Nevada. Second overall highest score went to Rokas Kostiuskevicius of Lithuania and third to Nick Donner of Kentucky.

Navigators: There were 1,144 Navigators who volunteered during this year’s event. Navigators (not including chase crew) are volunteers who provide guest services, administrative services, balloon coordination and safety, set- up and logistics, and more in over 40 different areas.

X Marks the Spot: Landowners picked up 600 X-Packs to mark their land as approved spots for balloonists to land during this year’s event. There were also many, white sheets that were displayed to indicate the land was open for landings. X Marks the Spot is sponsored by the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce.

Additional information about the 2022 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta can be found at www.balloonfiesta.com. The 51^st Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta will be held October 7-15, 2023.

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* It's difficult to accurately track the number of spectators attending the nine-day event. In order to fulfill media requests on the number of people attending the event, the Balloon Fiesta generates “estimated guest visits.” The estimate is generated by combining the number of advance tickets and passes issued to guests, media, balloon teams, chase crew, park and ride, sponsors, service vehicles, corporate buses, entertainers, recreational vehicles, Balloon Fiesta staff, Balloon Fiesta contractors and Balloon Fiesta VIPs. In some instances, different multipliers are used to compensate for multiple and return visits to the Balloon Fiesta Park.