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| Guests of the 1987
Balloon Fiesta saw the beginning of a permanent addition to Balloon
Fiesta. That addition was the Balloon Glow. This event originally
came from events in Longview, TX and Durango, CO in which Scott Appelman,
a Balloon Fiesta board member at the time, participated. He wanted
to take this type of event to a new level and invite 225 balloons
to participate at the 1987 Balloon Fiesta®. At first he was met
with skepticism from the Balloon Fiesta Board of Directors but in
the end, it was supported. The board decided to offer numbered pilot
pins in hopes that pilots would want to sign up to receive this one
of a kind pin. There was an overwhelming response from the pilots
with 450 of them signing up to fill 225 slots. Guest response was
also overwhelming the first year. Nobody knew what to expect but once
dusk hit there was an estimated 100,000 people mingling among the
balloons. At the time that was the largest crowd the Balloon Fiesta
had seen. One of the reasons the Balloon Glow was introduced at the
Balloon Fiesta was to give guests and residents something to do in
the evenings where the balloons didn’t leave the field. Guests
were encouraged to meet and talk with pilots and crew. |
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| During the glow, balloons inflate at dusk, remain
tethered, and light their burners in a synchronized fashion. The "glow"
effect is created by the same burner system used in flight; however, pilots
use various means to bypass the "pre-heat" coils on the burner.
These coils help the burner work efficiently, but the flame is a dull
blue and does not emit a lot of light. The first Balloon Glow was held
to celebrate the 75th anniversary of New Mexico’s statehood. It has
always been held on the first weekend of the Balloon Fiesta, and in 1993
a "mini glow" (that’s now grown to over 300 balloons) called
Night Magic™ was added on the second weekend. |
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