Balloon Festival in Ajijic

Years ago Walt went to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, and was in awe of the size and intricate design of many of the balloons. So when we moved to Ajijic 3 years ago we heard that the Saturday prior to Dia de Independencia, which is 16 September, they have a local balloon festival. So we had to go check it out and have tried to go every year since. We went this year again and thoroughly enjoyed it. Unlike the hot air balloons in Albuquerque, these balloons are totally different. They are not powered by propane gas, nor do they carry people. They range in size from a few feet across to over 20 feet. The biggest difference is they are not made of fabric but simply tissue paper. The source for the hot air is a wire ring wrapped in cloth that is soaked in kerosene and then lit. This actually works, and the balloons can attain a tremendous height, in fact, we have seen them go well above the mountains behind our house and these mountains are 3,500 feet above the lake. The greatest amount of excitement though is the fact that you have an open flame contained within a balloon made of tissue paper. You guessed it, a very flammable situation. Even though the balloons are made of tissue paper the designs rival those of Albuquerque and the size may not be as big but some do get as large as 20 or 25 feet in height or even diameter. So they are pretty awesome. It is a unique event to our village, and of course you can buy all kinds of food and drinks, cotton candy and palletas (fruit popsicles).

To give a flavor of this event we took a few photos and videos that we want to share. First of all, the event takes place in the soccer field about a quarter mile from our house towards the lake. If the wind is favorable, the balloons sometimes sail right over our home, but not this year. This year the wind sent most of them over the lake. We went to the soccer field not only to see the balloons but join in the festivities down there. There are typically around a dozen groups that bring their balloons and each group has a large number and variety of balloons. Here are photos of one of the groups and some of the activities taking place as they begin to launch. This was at the early part of the event so the soccer field didn't have too many people yet. A couple of hours later it was almost wall-to-wall people and people still streaming in. You can see the large number of balloons on the tarp for this group. Also in this series of photos you see some of the other groups beginning to launch their balloons. Many of the balloons are sponsored by local businesses, and have their name prominently displayed. One year when a balloon burned up a corn field this was a bit of a problem, as the farmer knew exactly who to speak to for restitution....

Getting set to launch the balloons can be rather exciting. Remember, there is this large tissue paper structure that requires hot air inside to make it float. Rather than lighting the kerosene some use a chimenea first and when the balloon gets partially full, then they will light the kerosene ring. Since some of the balloons are so large they use ladders or even scaffolding and then strings or long poles to hold the balloon away from the fire and vertical so that it doesn't catch on fire prior to launch. However, we saw our fair share of those burning before they even took off. Here are some photos of launch preparation.

One huge advantage of tissue paper balloons is the ease of repair. More tissue paper and packing style tape is all you need. Here is a photo of a balloon that had a hole in the top. After this photo was taken it unfortunately got another hole in top and they managed to get it down for repair. However, after that hole was filled the next thing we saw was this balloon go up in flames before it even got off the ground.

Watching balloons launch successfully is always a thrill and the crowd always cheers. Here are some photos of successful launches. Here is a video of a successful launch. Note the water bottle can be seen keeping the balloon from swaying and at the last part of the video the kerosene flame can be seen. The ballast has to be sufficient to keep the balloon from swaying but not so much as to keep the balloon from flying. The kerosene fire in the rocket, in this series of photos, burned out and the rocket landed intact and we saw it on our way home and took a photo of it that is shown at the end of this blog.

One of the most exciting things for the crowd, but not for the folks that spent untold hours making these balloons, is when they catch fire and crash. Some don't even get off the ground. Here are some photos of balloons that didn't make it. Here is a video of what most look like when they burst into flames after launch. Looking carefully the kerosene ring can be seen falling first. If this happens above the soccer field, the kids love to chase after them, with their parents hollering warnings to be careful. As can be seen at the end of the video, the burning remains often do fall into the local residential areas. Nothing fun in Mexico is without a certain amount of risk! There were a couple of spectacular disasters that we managed to catch in video. Here is a photo of a large Happy Face taking off and here is the video shortly after. Here is a photo of a rocket made up off three boosters. Here is the video shortly after. In the video it is clear that the green booster is the first to fail. The music, a Mexican Anthem in the background, appears to be very fitting.

So now the question is where do they land? In the earlier video clearly one was landing in a residential area. We saw one burning kerosene ring land on a roof and keep burning. But since everything is concrete and tile there is no danger of a house burning down. Here are two photos of balloons that have landed. The first landed in flames on the power lines. The second, landed intact in someones yard. This particular balloon was the large rocket that was in one of the earlier photos. It was interesting to watch because its kerosene fire went out and it just slowly drifted to earth intact and landed in this neighborhood.