The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the most popular ballooning event in the world. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city of Albuquerque each year. With such numbers come congestion, logistical conundrums, and stress. Let us try to clear some of that stress by outlining several ways you and your family can attend this often-bucket-listed event!
Staying at the Balloon Fiesta Grounds
There are several ways to visit the Balloon Fiesta, whether it’s camping on site, staying in a local hotel, or being a local. From our observations, the best solution is camping on site for the whole week. Camping on site can be found using several different vectors. If you’re a member of an RV club, like Escapees or Fulltime Families, they may hold rallies. That particular club may have a reserved camping area at the Balloon Fiesta grounds. When we attended, we did so as part of the Fulltime Families Balloon Fiesta Experience.
The Balloon Fiesta webpage is the portal to use if you’re not part of an RV club and you want to stay on-site. They offer several different camping opportunities: tent camping with supplied equipment, “Glamping” in deluxe safari tents right on the field, dry RV camping, and full hook-up RV spots in the “Presidents” campground. Nearly all the RV accommodations, which are the camping style with the most slots, are dry, rally-style camping arrangements. This means there are no power, water, or sewer hookups. The sites are in an open field with minimal spot sizes and dubious levelness.
Mostly Dry Camping
For boondockers like us, the only change is the population density, but for weekenders and “pillar princesses” (read, people who prefer RV parks; their term, not ours!), it can be an adjustment. The Fiesta does have contractors who will fill fresh water tanks and pump out waste water tanks (different trucks!) for a modest fee, so you don’t have to worry about having enough storage for the whole nine days!
The city of Albuquerque also hosts dozens of hotels for those who want to stay off-site. But they have significant drawbacks, as I’ll cover in a bit. No matter how you choose to attend, BOOK EARLY!!! As of writing this in July of ’25, all camping opportunities at the Balloon Fiesta are fully booked, with waitlists closed. This is nearly 4 months before the event!
Getting in the Doors
Camping at the Balloon Fiesta does not necessarily include admission. Some packages come with tickets, but many do not. Tickets are sold per session, with most days having two sessions: morning and evening.
The entire Balloon Fiesta grounds shut down for a couple of hours in the middle of the day. The tickets aren’t specific. If you go to a morning session, you’ll need a second ticket to do the evening session of the same day.
If you volunteer to work at the festival or crew a balloon, part of your compensation is a week-long pass good for every session all week long. This is how we got in, and it’s the best way to fully experience the Balloon Fiesta!
One other option to get in is to buy “Park and Ride” passes. These are only good for specific days and sessions, but include to and from shuttle service with priority traffic! Traffic comes to a standstill before, during, and after sessions. Not having to worry about driving plus a fast pass is worth the extra expense.
Balloons are only inflated or flown if the weather is good. The Balloon Fiesta staff don’t always let you use your tickets for another session if the balloons don’t go up. There were several days that had enough winds that not many balloons were inflated or flown, so we’re really glad we had the whole week to attend.
Transportation
We wouldn’t recommend trying to drive into the event at all. Traffic comes to a standstill with the tens of thousands of people coming in to see the attractions. All of the camping areas have courtesy shuttles that get traffic priority, and the shuttles run constantly. The event also has a “bicycle valet” service for those who choose to bike to the event from their campsite. Hotels in the area may offer shuttle services, but that’s on an individual basis and may not have priority traffic.
Suffice it to say, there are many options from rough to fancy, so be sure to choose the way that best fits you and your family’s vibe!