That is impossible to believe!
Maybe I'll try and make it down one year. What else is going on during the Balloon Festival beside balloons? As I left my balloon in my other pocket, us land lovers would need other things to occupy time once we were ballooned out!
800,000 people WOW! That is a LOT.
Attendance is higher on weekends, usually over 100k each day. With the good weather we had both weekends I would bet it was much higher this year. (Last year was bad with ugly weather canceling many days) This event is the major $$$ tourism event for ABQ all year long, if you were here you would see the effects - every road bumper to bumper all day, every restaurant with 1+ hour wait, every hotel booked up months in advance.
People come from all over the world too, not just USA.
The balloon mass ascension is every day, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun from about 5:30am-9am.
All balloons fly on weekends, some days during the week are only one category like Special Shapes or Flight of Nations (balloons from outside of USA). The 10 days are all about balloons.
Some days there are competition event afterward the Mass Ascent for a few hours. Then at night some nights there are "Glows" where balloons stay tethered to ground and light up for crowd. Other than that, and all the vendors (over 100 there) you would leave the balloon grounds and hang out in Albuquerque.
Most people come to town for 3-4 days, but not the full 10 days. We are just lucky to live here.
If you haven't spent time in ABQ, there are things to do, like take the tram up to the top of Sandia Peak, dinner up there if you want, visit the Native American Museum, Old Town, casinos, Petroglyphs National Park, etc.
robin
