We are thinking about springing for a trip to the balloon festival this October, and would like some input from folks who have been there. We're thinking of a Fantasy RV tour as advertised by GSC.Is the RV park that they advertise, close to the launch field, tolerable for habitation? I guess it's dry camping, so I suppose we can expect generators running constantly. Is it still warm enough to require A/C at night at that time of year?Any info would be helpful for planning.Thanks.

Just so you know, I live in Albuquerque and have never camped at the Fiesta. I'm not sure if GSC uses a campground or has spaces on the Balloon Fiesta grounds but that is where you want to be located. It's getting a little late to plan for this years fiesta but if you can book a spot yourself it would probably save you a lot of money. You really want to be on the grounds for the best experience. You'll have balloons flying right over you. As far as the weather that time of year, you will probably not need any A/C at night but may need it during the day. In fact, you will definitely need a jacket to watch the evening balloon glows, etc. I lived in SC (worked in Charlotte but lived across the border) for many years and it will be a welcome change to get away from the heat and humidity. When I first moved my family from SC to NM I took my teenage sons tent camping in the mountains. It was the middle of July. I told them to bring their winter coats as it would get cold at night. They chose to ignore my advice (they were teenagers so they knew everything) and they almost froze. So if you plan to visit the mountains while you are in NM you may even want to bring a heavy coat. I hope you can get a spot as it is definitely worth the trip. Travel safe.

We went to the balloon festival in 2013 for our 40th anniversary and loved it. Here's what we found:you want to stay at the festival campsite otherwise you will end up spending hours and hours in traffic and trying to park.the campsite is 'festival' parking, meaning the sites are very close together and no services. There are some trucks that will come to your site to empty waste tanks or fill water but I don't know what the cost was.a lot of generators are running but there is quiet time from 10 pm to 6 am.there are free shuttle buses running about every 10 minutes between the campsite and balloon site all day, starting about 5 am (I think). They dropped you off at a special ticket booth with minimal line-ups.the website (http://balloonfiesta.com/) has a lot of great information on it and the people who answered the phone were very knowledgable.The balloons were awesome and we'd love to go again.

I would echo what has been said above. I was "camped" towards the far end, so it was a nice five to ten minute walk up to the launch area. And yes, you're basically parked in there like sardines, so it essentially becomes something of a big community party.If you don't have a generator, ( I don't ) the biggest challenge is maintaining battery power in the camper. I used a minimal solar panel, so had to be very careful in using the water pump ( for showers ), etc. My camper is like most in that it needs that 12V battery power to keep the propane fridge running. If I were going to do it again, I'd double my battery capacity and probably quadruple my solar panel capacity.It was fun, I got some awesome photos and had fun talking with and hanging out with neighbors.I made res very early, and I planned and did arrive early, so it was fun being there and watching over several days, the place fill up.

We have signed up with Adventure Caravans for this year. We will have electric on site and water and sewer dump trucks available. Check out their website and they will have all the details. Fantasy will probably have the same.

Not a Clue wrote:We have signed up with Adventure Caravans for this year. We will have electric on site and water and sewer dump trucks available. Check out their website and they will have all the details. Fantasy will probably have the same.Yes, I should have pointed out in my post above there are some sites that have hookups as I recall, they are up toward the "front". I wanted to cheap ! .... so I stayed in the back where it's all dry camping.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta | Good Sam Community

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PenMan
Explorer
Apr 05, 2016
Just so you know, I live in Albuquerque and have never camped at the Fiesta. I'm not sure if GSC uses a campground or has spaces on the Balloon Fiesta grounds but that is where you want to be located. It's getting a little late to plan for this years fiesta but if you can book a spot yourself it would probably save you a lot of money. You really want to be on the grounds for the best experience. You'll have balloons flying right over you. As far as the weather that time of year, you will probably not need any A/C at night but may need it during the day. In fact, you will definitely need a jacket to watch the evening balloon glows, etc. I lived in SC (worked in Charlotte but lived across the border) for many years and it will be a welcome change to get away from the heat and humidity. When I first moved my family from SC to NM I took my teenage sons tent camping in the mountains. It was the middle of July. I told them to bring their winter coats as it would get cold at night. They chose to ignore my advice (they were teenagers so they knew everything) and they almost froze. So if you plan to visit the mountains while you are in NM you may even want to bring a heavy coat. I hope you can get a spot as it is definitely worth the trip. Travel safe.

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Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

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