Guest Update - July 31, 2019

July 31, 2019

Balloon Fiesta Guests and Supporters,

We are about two months from the October 5^th start of the 2019 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Our staff and board of directors are busy finalizing the details of this year’s event and can’t wait to soon see smiling faces at Balloon Fiesta Park.

This year’s event theme is Picture Perfect; if you’ve ever been to Balloon Fiesta, you know there is no shortage of spectacular moments, perfect for picture taking and if you are new to Balloon Fiesta, you are in for a stunning adventure! As you prepare for your trip to Balloon Fiesta, we recommend visiting our website’s event schedule. Beyond taking in the hundreds of dazzling hot air balloons that will be on display, we are also putting together an exciting list of entertainers for guests to enjoy, visit the entertainment schedule here.

A lot has happened since our last 60-day guest update. We’re excited to share some of the work that’s been taking place to enhance your guest experience:

• Park & Ride Loading Areas at Balloon Fiesta: Guests using the Cottonwood and Intel Park & Ride locations will now have a NEW unloading and loading area at Balloon Fiesta Park. It will be located at the corner of Balloon Museum Drive and Jefferson, just east of the Balloon Museum. Loading areas for our guests returning to the Coronado Center and Hoffmantown park and ride locations will be expanded but remain near last year’s locations.
• Park and Ride Loading Times: Each park and ride location will have two waves of shuttles to Balloon Fiesta Park with guests checking in at approximately 4:00am and 5:30am for morning sessions. Buses will start return service to the park and ride locations at 8:00am and will run until our guests have been returned to the appropriate remote lot. Check-in times for the afternoon sessions will be approximately 3:00pm and 4:30pm with return service running from 7:00pm until 10pm.
• Ride Share: Guests will easily be able to once again utilize ride share programs like Lyft and Uber, when accessing Balloon Fiesta Park. The drop-off and pick-up location will remain at the parking lot, located at Alameda Boulevard and Horizon, south of the Launch Field. New to this year, we’ll be increasing the ride share signage in the area and will offer a courtesy shuttle to transport guests to the launch field.
• Bike Valet: Riding a bike to Balloon Fiesta Park is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to visit. The Bike Valet is free and allows guests a safe place to park their bikes while visiting the Balloon Fiesta; this year there will be additional space, making room for more bikes to be parked. Pace Bike Share will again be offering its rental bike program, making more bikes available for guests to rent.

The changes we are working toward are in hopes of bringing the best possible experience to our guests. As you consider your trip to Balloon Fiesta, you can help as well by being prepared and aware of these new changes. For Park & Ride, remember that there are now check-in times assigned to ticket holders; if you miss your check-in time or arrive prior to your assigned time, you must wait until the current timeslot ticket holders have been loaded onto the buses. You can also help shorten the wait time by limiting what you bring along when boarding the bus and entering the park; security bag checks move much faster if there are fewer items and bags to inspect. Guests driving to Balloon Fiesta Park: remember that the parking fee is $15.00 CASH ONLY as we do not accept credit or debit cards to pay the parking fee. Please have your cash ready before you reach the parking areas to speed up the collection process. AIBF thanks you in advance for your cooperation.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more event updates and important planning tips. Thank you for your interest and support, we look forward to seeing you soon!