Los Lunas
The gods smiled on Saturday and Sunday for the St. Patrick’s Day Balloon Rallye, giving the participants near perfect weather for take-off.
As the sun came up over the Manzanos on Saturday, the New Mexico winds took a vacation to watch the festivities.
The Rallye had its usual 100 entrants, and, as the trucks and trailers sat waiting at Heritage Park, a feeling of anticipation flowed through the participants as well as the on-lookers.
“We had a great turnout this year,” said Maggie Gedes, media relations director for the balloon society. “We had two days of great flying.”
In front of a field of spectators, the Rallye went off without a hitch. On Saturday, Los Lunas’ neighbors to the south got a beautiful view of a sky full of balloons, while on Sunday the breeze shifted, pushing the balloons to the north, over Bosque Farms residents.
“Everyone in the area got to see our balloons this weekend,” Geddes said.
With their eyes turned up toward the clouds, people were able to catch glimpses of Smoky Bear, a huge flying pig and a balloon shaped like a parrot’s head. Aside from the few odd-shaped balloons, beautifully-colored, traditionally-shaped balloons filled the skies.
The St. Patrick’s Day Rallye has a tendency towards high winds and difficult flying conditions. This year, however, the participants were more than happy with the weather provided them during the weekend. Geddes described the days as gorgeous.
The hundreds of trucks and trailers along for the chasing had little trouble recovering their balloons.
The balloons were able to touch down in many instances in fields in Bosque Farms or Los Lunas.
Afterwards, as is the tradition, all of the balloonists and many of the spectators stayed around until nearly 4 p.m. on Saturday and until nearly 2 p.m. on Sunday, enjoying the great company and great food which always follows the ballooning.
For those not involved in the ballooning itself, there were booths with refreshments. There was a jumping balloon for the kids to jump around in and information and T-shirt stands for everyone.
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April 18, 2024
