By 1985, the Balloon 1985Fiesta’s last year at Cutter Field (today it’s the Vista del Norte housing development), the event had fallen into a nice rhythm, with 466 balloons, 10 gas balloons racing to targets, parachute demonstrations, air shows, high school bands performing in the mornings, and a new innovation, Balloon Mail. This off ered guests the opportunity to mail (to themselves or a friend) a letter that had been actually fl own in a balloon at Balloon Fiesta. At the event’s on-fi eld “post offi ce”, guests would buy an envelope and insert the letter. Pilots took bags of mail aloft and signed the envelopes after landing. Then the on-fi eld post offi ce would stamp the mail with a special cancellation and mail it. This service continued for several years. But change was coming, and Balloon Fiesta was about to enter a new and exciting era that shaped the event essentially as we know it today. OFFICIAL PROGRAM 121