Hundreds of hot air balloons are scheduled to lift off Saturday morning, marking the start of an annual fiesta that has drawn pilots and spectators from across the globe to New Mexico's high desert for 50 years now.
The flame of a gas burner helps inflate a hot air balloon as part of a re-enactment of the first Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in 1972 during a special event at Coronado Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Hundreds of hot air balloons will be lifting off over the nine-day annual fiesta that has drawn pilots and spectators from across the globe for 50 years.
Pilot Gene Dennis, 78, remembers the snow storm that almost caused him to miss that first fiesta. He had to rearrange his flight plans from Michigan so he could make it to Albuquerque in time. “This is my plan,” he said, with a wide smile while acknowledging that it's not always easy to fly a balloon.
Denise Wiederkehr McDonald was a passenger in her father's balloon during the first fiesta. She made the trip from Colorado to participate in a re-enactment of that 1972 flight on Friday. Her father, Matt Wiederkehr, was one of the first 10 hot air balloon pilots in the U.S. and held numerous world records for distance and duration and built a successful advertising business with his fleet of balloons.
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