Here I am in the balloon basket of the monkey balloon ecstatic to be in my very first balloon basket! The monkey balloon is manned by men in banana suits since the monkey needs his banana. No— I didn’t get to go up. That only happens at dawn when I am sleeping.

They are carrying this balloon basket on a rack behind their van. Forget a big trailer, just put it on a rack!

Festive time was had by all with the folks on stilts juggling balls and posing for pictures.

eve’s art shot

The Monkey balloon is blown up by the bananas

The Balloon Fiesta Park suddenly becomes a lot less huge when the balloons start to be blown up

Monkey balloon getting bigger and bigger…

Hot air makes the balloons rise. I asked how they keep from burning the balloon and they said “very carefully”. Others said, they have seen a burned balloon. Not a pretty site

eve’s art shot turned into a Jesus balloon, Arg!

getting ready for the shape glow

From the Wikipedia:

Night Glows

Large numbers of balloons are illuminated at night by their propane burners. The “Glowdeo” is a night glow for the special shapes balloons.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a yearly balloon fiesta that takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA during early October.

The balloon fiesta is a nine day event, and has around 750 balloons. The event is the largest balloon fiesta in the world.The balloon fiesta began as a small gathering of 13 balloons in April of 1972, organized by Cutter Flying Service owner Sid Cutter. The event was located in a shopping center parking lot with 20,000 spectators and with balloonists from Arizona, California, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Texas taking part

Everyone can wander the field and talk to the balloon crews. Walking among them when they are being blown up is amazing. Everyone is friendly and the field goes from empty to full in less than an hour

It is starting to get dark so you can start to see the glow

The announcer counts down from 10 and everyone tries to light their propane burners so the glow is all at once