On Saturday October 8, I got to witness hundreds of hot air balloons in various colors, shapes, and sizes beautifully decorate the sky at the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We arrived at the venue, in which the nine-day festival is annually held, at about 6:30 a.m. Colossal works of art floated above the city following the tradition of Mass Ascension, an event where all participating balloons are launched scheduled at 7:00. The variety of balloons ranged from multi-colored designs, and the logos of sponsors, to bright pink elephants, Spider Pig, and Uncle Sam. The arrival of a Storm-trooper army occurred to celebrate the much anticipated, massively proportioned Darth Vader balloon. Sadly, such a thing did not make an appearance. By 8:00 there was well over 200 different additions to the collage of balloons in the sky. For only $8 per person, the seemingly “lame” experience of watching giant balloons float around actually turned out to be quite interesting. There is also a large variety of food stands for the hungry tourists, and contests sponsored by Nikon for the eager photographers. Later in the evening are other festive events, including fireworks, that I unfortunately couldn’t stay for but if Albuquerque can put on a firework show like they can put on a balloon showcase, I’m sure that it’s worth sticking around for. It only comes around once a year, so I would definitely recommend attending at least once.