CELEBRATING 50 YEARS “With the advent of this, the First Annual KOB International Balloon Festival, a new, tremendous, spectacular tourist attraction has been added to the wonders of Albuquerque and New Mexico. For today is just the beginning” . . . o begins the very fi rst article in the very fi rst guy,” an aviator and aeronaut with big dreams and (1972) Balloon Fiesta program, an eight-page, extraordinary vision -- it happened, and changed mimeographed (this was before copiers!), Albuquerque and New Mexico forever. quickly-assembled guide to what today is Before 1972, October was just another month in known as the fi rst Albuquerque International Albuquerque. For local business people, it was time for Balloon Fiesta®. For a quarter, spectators a breather between the hectic State Fair crunch and the S could snap up their very own copy. gear-up for the holiday rush. Weekends might be spent As you will learn in these pages, this fi rst gathering of in the mountains looking at the changing leaves or taking balloons from around the nation was thrown together advantage of the apple and chile harvests. In the clear, in less than two weeks. KOB, one of the fi rst radio crisp early morning skies there was nary a balloon in stations in the US when it began broadcasting in 1922, sight. was celebrating its 50th anniversary and wanted to What a diff erence 50 years makes! October in create something memorable. With the help of the Albuquerque is now synonymous with balloons, Albuquerque Aerostat Ascension Association (the hundreds of them, a canopy of color, a child’s fantasy local balloon club), members of the community, and of bunches of balloons suddenly released into a clear most notably Sid Cutter -- that “chamber of commerce blue sky. On the business side, it generates hundreds most notably Sid Cutter -- that “chamber of commerce of millions of dollars in revenue for local businesses in Albuquerque and New Mexico. We don’t have a record of who wrote that fi rst article in 1972, but whoever it was had a pretty good crystal ball. “It is our hope,” they wrote, “that this will become an annual event…the culmination of a week of activities… perhaps a golf tournament… a ball… a queen contest… a perhaps a golf tournament… a ball… a queen contest… a fi esta... all gathered into one week of great attractions.” All of these have been part of the Balloon Fiesta at one time or another. The author went on to say, “Tomorrow, we begin our next year. We welcome ideas, participants, and interest from every civic-minded individual and organization…” As we begin our next 50 years, we echo that sentiment. We have had the privilege, over the past fi ve decades, of living the magic and telling the story of the Balloon Fiesta. We invite you, through these pages, to discover that magic, and hope you’ll be inspired to become part of the story for the next 50 years. Kim Vesely Editor Wally Book, Dick Brown, John C. Davis, IV, Jennifer Garcia, Jacqueline Hockey, Charlotte Kinney, Rod May, Tom McConnell, M.D., Lisa Mulder, Lynne Newton, Sam Parks, Stephanie Prendergast, Paul Rhetts, Dick Rice, Harry Season, John Sena, Paul Smith, Mark Sullivan, Al Tetreault, Ken Tuley, Ty Young: program authors and members of the AIBF Heritage Committee ® 6 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta