Claims Title For Greatest Mass Hot Air Balloon Ascent

A new Guiness World Record was set at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for the “Greatest mass hot air balloon ascent.”

The record setting date was October 6, 2019 with 524 balloons launched.

Paul Smith, the executive director of the Balloon Fiesta shared a bit of history about the event and what led them to this record breaking day, “Following our launch of 1,019 hot air balloons in 2000, the event’s leadership agreed that Albuquerque really should be the home for this kind of world record, so we started the process of learning how to document the launches,” said Smith.

"The process to set the new record was quite laborious and we set it in 2010 with 329 hot air balloons, and then again in 2011 with 345 hot air balloons. Then an event that occurs every other year in France set the record with more than 400 balloons,” he continued.

“We had decided to focus our efforts on our processes and making Balloon Fiesta the best balloon event in the world and we didn’t pursue the record."

Tom Garrity, a spokesman for the festival, said he reached out to Guinness in 2020 to see if the documentation from the 2019 event would be sufficient to claim the record, which has now officially been approved. The 2021 Fiesta will begin on October 2nd and continue for 9 days, and include more than 500 hot air balloons, marking its 49th year.

FMI: https://balloonfiesta.com