Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta sets Guinness World Record for Greatest Mass Balloon Ascent With 2019 Launch of 524 Hot Air Balloons

August 22, 2021

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta sets Guinness World Record for Greatest Mass Balloon Ascent With 2019 Launch of 524 Hot Air Balloons

Guinness World Records verifies a “Picture Perfect” launch of 524 hot air balloons launched from Balloon Fiesta Park on October 6, 2019

Albuquerque, New Mexico – The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is where the world celebrates ballooning and now it has set a new Guinness World Record (GWR) for the “Greatest mass hot air balloon ascent” of 524 hot air balloons. The GWR website documents the feat in its website https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/greatest-mass-hot-air-balloon-ascent.

“Following our launch of 1,019 hot air balloons in 2000, the event’s leadership agreed that Albuquerque really should be the home for this kind of world record, so we started the process of learning how to document the launches,” says Executive Director Paul Smith. The process to set the new record was quite laborious and we set it in 2010 with 329 hot air balloons, and then again in 2011 with 345 hot air balloons. Then an event that occurs every other year in France set the record with more than 400 balloons. We had decided to focus our efforts on our processes and making Balloon Fiesta the best balloon event in the world and we didn’t pursue pursue the record.”

“The 2020 event was postponed due to COVID and we were thinking of things we could do to promote the event, Albuquerque and New Mexico, so we started digging up the paperwork to see if we could set the world record based solely on the event’s documentation,” says Tom Garrity. I reached out to the editor of the Guinness World Record and let him know we were interested in the record. We started to coordinate the gathering of information to properly document the record. The criteria for establishing the record is somewhat different than it was when setting the world record in previous years.”

“The 48th Balloon Fiesta included 588 hot air balloon registrations representing 17 countries,” says Director of Operations Sam Parks “On October 6, 2019, during the regular morning mass ascension, 524 hot air balloons were launched from Balloon Fiesta Park. We document the launch with pictures and videos of the launch, providing a listing of unique banner number issued by the event, and then confirming the launches in two ways: 1) launch Directors, assigned to specific quadrants on Balloon Fiesta Park, collect a launch slip from each pilot just before they leave the ground; 2) the launch numbers are verified by PCWise, a Balloon Fiesta contractor, who oversees refueling of hot air balloon propane tanks following the flight.”

“What an honor and what a great title to add to this already spectacular event, the 48th event was just an amazing event overall,” says Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta President Matt Guthrie. “I was on the field, I didn't fly that year because of my official capacity, it just doesn't allow time. But I was on the field and just marveling at what a spectacular day it was because the previous day had some phenomenal clouds that came in and some fog, which is unusual for Albuquerque. And so we had quite the contrast between the Saturday and the Sunday flying. And so a lot of balloons sat on the ground on Saturday, but they certainly got to fly on Sunday and Guinness was able to recognize that. It just goes to show what a premier event we are, a world class event we are. And the event to attend.”

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller applauded the record “This is another landmark accomplishment for the world’s greatest balloon fiesta that we are grateful to have each year in Albuquerque.”

The theme for the 48^th event was “Picture Perfect” and launched from Balloon Fiesta Park, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Well, you throw those words ‘Picture Perfect’ in your head, and that's all that comes to mind,” says Guthrie. “There's not a bad seat in the house. The weather in New Mexico and Albuquerque during that time of year is spectacular. You add the colors of the balloons to the beautiful sunrises here in New Mexico and make sure your camera and phone batteries are charged because you are going to take a lot of pictures!”

The 49^th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta will launch on October 2, 2021 for nine days and include more than 500 hot air balloons, of which 100 are anticipated to be special shaped balloons. Pilots from all over the world have been invited to fly in the popular international event.

About the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta presented by Canon is an annual festival of hot air balloons that takes place every October in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. It is the largest gathering of balloons and balloonists in the world. The 2019 event generated $186.82 Million into the Albuquerque and the State of New Mexico economies. For details on events, schedule, entertainment and photographs visit our website www.balloonfiesta.com and follow us on Twitter @BalloonFiesta and Facebook.

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