What is the world’s largest annual hot-air balloon festival?

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the world’s largest annual hot-air balloon festival.

The event takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, usually during October. It began in 1972 with a much smaller gathering and grew into a major international celebration featuring mass ascensions, special-shaped balloons, competitions, evening balloon glows, and fireworks.

Albuquerque is particularly suited to ballooning because its autumn weather is often favorable and the area has a useful pattern of shifting winds at different altitudes. Pilots can sometimes climb or descend to move with different air currents, a local effect often associated with the Rio Grande Valley.

The festival’s signature mass ascensions fill the sky with hundreds of balloons. Its special-shape balloons include characters, animals, and objects that differ from the standard rounded envelope. Despite the spectacle, flights remain subject to weather decisions made for safety.