The Special Shape Rodeo started in 1989 and now has become the most popular event at the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta®. Since the Balloon Fiesta started the Special Shape Rodeo in 1989, many events around the world have now added some kind of special shape event to their program.
The first Special Shape Rodeo balloons launched on Thursday and Friday afternoons and were lucky enough to fly both days. This event was such a success that it created major traffic jams and produced huge crowds. Twenty-eight shapes participated in the first event and the Special Shape Rodeo was on solid ground. The Shape Rodeo grew each year with 35 shapes in 1990, 45 shapes in 1991, 62 shapes from eight countries in 1992, and a whopping 108 in 1996, the largest Special Shape Rodeo.
In 1993 the Special Shape Rodeo added a third flight that would take place Thursday morning and by 1998, Special Shapes were so popular that they were the only balloons to launch from the field on Thursday and Friday mornings and glow from the field on the same evenings– totaling four events dedicated strictly to Special Shapes. The shapes glow has come to be called the Special Shape Glowdeo™.
2022 Special Shape Gallery
(119 shape pictures below. Be patient. It may take a moment to load all the pictures. Not all 2022 shapes are presented.)
For a list of the Balloon Names and Pilots, scroll to the end of the pictures.
Balloon Name | Pilot Name | City | State | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 DOWN 8-2 GO | Mike Garcia | Albuquerque | NM | USA |
ADELAIDE THE KOALA | Ben Alford | Bristol | Bristol | United Kingdom |
AIRABELLE, THE CREAMLAND COW | Dale Ritchie | Golden, British Columbia | V0A | Canada |
ALBERT THE GNOME | Geert Peirsman | Belsele | O-VL | Belgium |
ALFRED THE CARPENTER | Hinnerk Roehrs | Celle | Niedersachsen | Germany |
ALICORN | Toby Brown | Denver | CO | USA |
ALIEN | Lee Hooper | Radstock | Somerset | United Kingdom |
BALLOONAFUL SUNRISE | Neil Davison | Phoenix | AZ | USA |
BEAGLE MAXIMUS | James Cassell | Albuquerque | NM | USA |
BELZEBUTH | Sidney Sevrin | Villers La Ville | Brabant Wallon | Belgium |
BOBO THE HAPPY LOBSTER | Geert Van Wolvelaer | Urgup | Nev ehir | Turkey |
BRAVO BEAR | Chiu Shengfu | Taipei City | Taiwan | |
BUD E. BEAVER | Colin Graham | Belgrade | MT | USA |
BUSBY QUEENS GUARD | Paul Burrows | Bristol | United Kingdom | |
BUSTER THE BULLDOG | Paul Burrows | Bristol | United Kingdom | |
BUZZY THE BEE | Janice Sines | Ashland | MO | USA |
CARNIVAL | Mark Meyer | Vass | NC | USA |
CAROUSEL | Frank Campanale | Orchard Lake | MI | USA |
CATHY'S HOPE | Brian Liley | Fall Branch | TN | USA |
CHESHIRE CAT | Michael Scott | Oklahoma City | OK | USA |
CHIC-I-BOOM | Jon Kolba | Crooks | SD | USA |
CHRIS P. BACON | Jordan Cox | Indianapolis | IN | USA |
CLAW'D THE CRAZY CRAB | Mike Lorentz | Canton | OH | USA |
CLOWN | Thomas Siebel | Freudenberg | NRW | Germany |
COCO THE CLOWN | Gary Sines | Ashland | MO | USA |
CORK THE PUPPY | Luiz De Assis | São Paulo | São Paulo | Brazil |
COSMIC CRISP APPLE | Steve Wilkinson | Palm Desert | CA | USA |
CUTIE DINK | Trudy Degraff | Corrales | NM | USA |
CYNTHIA SEAL | Pat Rolfe | Battle Creek | MI | USA |
DARTH VADER | Roger Clark | Greer | SC | USA |
DAZ | Will Randell | Coopersburg | PA | USA |
DUMA | Art Hodge | The Villages | FL | USA |
EDDIE & RICKENBACKER | Andy Cayton | Black Creek | GA | USA |
EL FONZ | Max Mitchell | Champaign | IL | USA |
FLIP FLOP FANTASIES | Terry Dillard | Debary | FL | USA |
FLYING BUS | Rubens Kalousdian | Sao Paulo | São Paulo | Brazil |
FLYING SAUCER | Marcos Bonimcontro | São Paulo | São Paulo | Brazil |
FREDDIE THE FOX | Jeff Lawton | Godalming | Surrey | United Kingdom |
FREEDOM FLIGHT V | Luke Cesnik | Saint Cloud | MN | USA |
HAM-LET | Doug Gantt | Rio Rancho | NM | USA |
HUG A BEAR | Filip Audenaert | Waasmunster | Belgium | |
HUMPTY DUMPTY | Rich Lawhorn | Louisville | KY | USA |
IN THE BUFF | Barry Ballinger | Lubbock | TX | USA |
ITSY BITSY | Don Boyer | Belen | NM | USA |
IVO | Justin Cox | Carmel | IN | USA |
JERRY MOUSE | Brian Bennett | Agency | IA | USA |
JOELLY | Michael Glen | Mesa | AZ | USA |
KOSHARE GALLUP | Peter Procopio | Gallup | NM | USA |
LA RISTRA | Mike Shrum | Box Elder | SD | USA |
LADY JESTER | Robert Lupton | Albuquerque | NM | USA |
LASKA THE UNICORN | Tom Warren | Land O' Lakes | FL | USA |
LILLY LITTLE BEE | Bob Romaneschi | Peoria | AZ | USA |
LINDY | Scott Wooge | St. Louis | MO | USA |
LITTLE D | Jack Semler | Westfield | IN | USA |
LITTLE DOG | Valdemir Taveira | Osasco | São Paulo | Brazil |
MANDRILL | Warley Macedo | Boituva | São Paulo | Brazil |
MANSION | Darrell Duer Jr. | Oklahoma City | OK | USA |
MASTER YODA BALLOON | Benoit Lambert | Court St Etienne | Belgium | |
MASTER ZABA | John Viner | North Muskham | Nottinghamshire | United Kingdom |
MISS AUTUMN | David Adler | Yuma | AZ | USA |
MISTER GLOBIE | Alex Barends | Enschede | Overijssel | Netherlands |
MISTER Z | Thom Wright | Albuquerque | NM | USA |
MODEL T | Shane Shipman | Rio Rancho | NM | USA |
MONTIE THE BLACK SHEEP | Gerg Ashton | Meridian | ID | USA |
MR. WINKLE | Charles Edwards | Ft Myers | FL | USA |
MR. WINTER | Peter Griswold | Peachtree City | GA | USA |
OFF THE WALL | Jeff Haliczer | Reno | NV | USA |
OONS KEARLKE | Jacob Vaillanourt | Trois Rivieres | Quebec | Canada |
OONS WIEFKE | Richard Vaillancourt | St-Jean Sur Richelieu | Quebec | Canada |
OWLBERT EYENSTEIN | Gary Moore | Lake Havasu City | AZ | USA |
PANTHER | Steve Thomas | Bath | United Kingdom | |
PARTY! | Sheryl Reichert | El Cajon | CA | USA |
PEANUT | Erik Eaton | Noblesville | IN | USA |
PEG LEG PETE | Dave Reineke | Mahomet | IL | USA |
PENCIL BOY | Jay Schuler | Reno | NV | USA |
PIGASUS | Tyler Jaques | Battle Creek | MI | USA |
PIKO | Sylvain Tremblay | St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu | Québec | Canada |
PONDEMONIUM | Debbi Waltman | Windsor | CO | USA |
PRINCESS NELLY | Peter Van Overwalle | Nazareth | Oost Vlaanderen | Belgium |
PUDDLES | Kris Hlebechuk | Wasilla | AK | USA |
PUDDYCAT | Gene Stutsman | Goshen | IN | USA |
ROBOT WOOZI | Paulinho Toledo | Guarujá | São Paulo | Brazil |
ROCKET THE FLYING SQUIRREL | David Dunrud Jr | Geyserville | CA | USA |
RUBBER DUCKY | Bob O'brien | Waupaca | WI | USA |
SAHUARO GRANDE | Paddy Nilz | Marana | AZ | USA |
SARAH THE WITCH | Rollie Little | Glendale | AZ | USA |
SCARLETT | Dave Baker | Thatcham | Berkshire | United Kingdom |
SHE'S A LADY | Tom Forenz | Georgetown | CO | USA |
SHERIFF AIRMADILLO | Joe August | Newport Beach | CA | USA |
SIMBALOO | Jeff Bennett | Tulsa | OK | USA |
SMOKEY BEAR | Beth Wright-Smith | Albuquerque | NM | USA |
SNOBIRD | Don Edwards | Soldotna | AK | USA |
SPACE COWBOY | Bradley Burdue | Whitehouse | OH | USA |
SPEEDY | Earl Buzzard | Albuquerque | NM | USA |
SPLASH | Jonathan Hodge | Madison Heights | MI | USA |
SQUAWKURS | Ursula Richards | Albuquerque | NM | USA |
SQUAWKURS | Katelyn Salazar | Los Lunas | NM | USA |
SQUEAK | Nathan Dieringer | Menasha | WI | USA |
STEGGY | George Ary | Ribeirão Preto | São Paulo | Brazil |
STORK | Mark Komadina | Rio Rancho | NM | USA |
SUNNY BOY | Ben Drennan | Cordele | GA | USA |
SUSHI | Katie Griggs | Dayton | NV | USA |
SWISS CHALET | Roman Müller | Härkingen | Solothurn | Switzerland |
SYDNEY | Thomas Randall | Placitas | NM | USA |
TALL STEVE | Andrew Holly | GL13 | United Kingdom | |
TE AMO | Tamie Shrum | Box Elder | SD | USA |
TEDDY AND LINDY | Fabio Lopes | Torres | RIO GRANDE DO SUL | Brazil |
THE LOVEBIRDS | Maria Chieruzzi | Sparta | MO | USA |
TIC TOC | Derrick Jones | Hudsonville | MI | USA |
TICO | Jean-Francois Ferland | Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu | QC | Canada |
TIGER | Craig Farrell | Palmerston | ACT | Australia |
TOM CAT | Denny Anderson | Ankeny | IA | USA |
TOY CAR | Ricardo De Almeida | Boituva | São Paulo | Brazil |
UNCLE SAM | Frank Urbanski | Dakota Dunes | SD | USA |
WAGZ | Dean Carlton | Danville | IL | USA |
WERA SCREW DRIVER | Marcus Strauf | Waldbröl | NRW | Germany |
WES THE WOLF | Ashley Moore | Bideford | Devon | United Kingdom |
WITCH | Murilo Gonçalves Pereira Goncalves | Sombrio | Santa Catarina | Brazil |
YELLOW BIRD | John Cavin | Indialantic | FL | USA |
ZORRO | Mike Fielding | Oak Point | TX | USA |