AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
To Albuquerque now, where under a desert sky, hundreds of pilots ready themselves to be lighter than air. At dawn, they'll lift off in hot air balloons, painting the October sky in a wash of color. Colorado Public Radio's Haylee May shares the view from the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Ready to go.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Go, go, go.
HAYLEE MAY, BYLINE: On a giant grass launch field, tens of thousands of people from places as far as Mumbai have gathered before sunrise to witness the moment the sky will become a tapestry.
DAVE BAIR: Looking in the sky is like watching a Jackson Pollock painting. These balloons are everywhere in just splashes of color.
MAY: Colorado pilot Dave Bair has been flying here since the event began in the 1970s.
BAIR: And the first Balloon Fiesta had 13 balloons, and it took off downtown at one of the shopping malls.
MAY: This year, his pumpkin-shaped balloon, called Ms. Autumn, will take to the skies with 543 others, all in various shapes and colors. Eleven-year-old Sadie Henrichs (ph) has some she hopes to check off her list.
SADIE HENRICHS: I see a teddy bear balloon. I see a lot of colors.
MAY: Balloon Fiesta spokesman Tom Garritty says this year's pilots represent 41 states and 12 countries. They're all here to enjoy a weather quirk that's unique to this valley.
TOM GARRITY: What makes Albuquerque really the place that everybody wants to fly is the Albuquerque Box.
MAY: The winds here form a gentle loop, carrying balloons south near the ground and north a few hundred feet up. It helps keep the balloons gliding safely through the sky - because, as Bair says, how do you steer a balloon?
BAIR: The answer is, you don't. You follow the wind wherever it takes you.
MAY: First, crews unpack the balloon, setting up the gondola - that's the bit you ride in - and the envelope, the balloon itself.
(SOUNDBITE OF RIP)
MAY: Next, they fill it with cold air using big fans.
(SOUNDBITE OF FANS WHIRRING)
BAIR: And finally...
MAY: Then the third phase is hot inflation, where we actually light the burners and we heat the air inside. And that's what causes the balloon to stand up.
MAY: The propane burners shoot orange and blue flames up into the envelope.
(SOUNDBITE OF FLAMES WHOOSHING)
MAY: Stand next to one, and you can feel the heat on your skin and see the flush on the pilot's face. But nothing beats the magic of when these house-sized objects suddenly lift off and take to the sky.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Shouting) Three, two, one.
MAY: Garrity with the Fiesta says that's why he thinks people keep coming back.
GARRITY: You know, it's that sense of the unknown. It's a romantic adventure. You get to take to the skies and see where life takes you.
MAY: For NPR, I'm Haylee May in Albuquerque.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE VINES SONG, "MARY JANE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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