Celebrating New Mexico Beef Council’s new BEEF balloon flying at this year’s event
Albuquerque, NM – The 2025 ExxonMobil Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, set to launch Oct. 4-12, 2025, welcomes New Mexico Beef Council as the official sponsor of the Pilots’ Picnic.
Founded to promote beef and share the story of ranching in New Mexico, the New Mexico Beef Council provides resources to the community, including recipes, nutritional information, and educational programs. Sponsoring Balloon Fiesta for the first time reflects the organization’s mission to celebrate and share a product deeply rooted in New Mexico’s culture and local economy.
“We believe the Balloon Fiesta is such an important part of New Mexico and the communities within it,” says Carollann Romo, New Mexico Beef Council Executive Director. As a locally headquartered business and a New Mexico-focused organization, we want to be a part of the event that makes our city and our state famous, and we can’t wait to encourage balloon enthusiasts to choose beef at their next meal!”
2025 marks the first year New Mexico Beef Council is partnering with Balloon Fiesta. Representing ranchers across the state, the Beef Council will make a memorable debut with its first hot air balloon, the BEEF Balloon, joining the field as a locally owned and locally piloted new addition.
Balloon Fiesta visitors will be able to spot the BEEF Balloon on the field and can collect trading cards, pins, and beef recipes from the team. The Beef Council sees its involvement as a natural extension of its mission to bring beef to consumers in the state and to be present at New Mexico’s largest international event, which has become a global symbol of the Land of Enchantment.
“We have been so grateful for how the ballooning community has welcomed us in. It has been quite the experience to join a new industry that is so open to helping and answering questions,” Romo says. “Balloon Fiesta is such an important part of our state and community, and we could not imagine a more New Mexican form of advertising than a hot air balloon,”
For more information about New Mexico Beef Council, visit nmbeef.com