The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta takes place every year for nine days in October when the conditions are just right. It is a balloon event that attracts almost one million visitors from around the world to see 550 hot-air balloons being released into the air at once. The event began in 1972 with only 13 balloons, but this year there were 546 registered balloons. The event originated because of the Albuquerque Box: a rare wind pattern that happens in Albuquerque at this time of year.
The Albuquerque Box forms a rare wind pattern where winds at low elevations are southerly (from the south to the north), but at higher elevations, winds are northerly. It allows the balloons to land in almost the same place as they took off. The balloons take off and most of them head south towards downtown Albuquerque, where a combination of the warm air rising from the city and the balloons’ burners, the balloons rise up higher. There, the winds are now blowing north, and the balloons can return to about the same place where they took off.