Balloonists From 19 Countries Attending the Fiesta This Year

Sailing above the fiesta field in a hot-air balloon decorated with giant hearts, Adrian Held of Zurich, Switzerland, reported over a two-way radio that he was cruising at about 15 knots, or about 17 mph.

“You’re looking great, but a little bit small,” he said through radio static from his sky-high perch, called Heart Balloon.

Held was part of a mass ascension of international balloons during Balloon Fiesta’s Flight of the Nations on Wednesday morning.

Balloons from 19 countries were scheduled to participate in this year’s fiesta, with entrants hailing from the U.S., Ireland, South Africa, Switzerland, Australia, Finland, Croatia, Lithuania, Thailand, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Spain, France, Great Britain, The Netherlands and Russia.

Held’s wife, Christine, checked in with her husband via radio from the launch field.

“It’s just gorgeous,” he reported through the radio.

Christine Held said this is their second year coming to the fiesta. She said they’d been wanting to come for a long time because of the size of the event.

“It’s just balloon city,” she said, wearing jeans with patches in the shape of balloons. “I think it’s great.”

It was the first time the team from Thailand took part in the fiesta, and they stopped to snap group photos as they unfurled their balloon just before launch. The balloon took off with a banner that read “Amazing Thailand” and waving the Thai flag.

Asked how far they traveled, owner Terapat Tunsukarat said, “halfway around the world.”

Frank Wechter, an Albuquerque pilot, was helping the Thai team fly around the hundreds of balloons at the fiesta. Before the fiesta, the most air traffic they’d encountered was about 100 balloons.

Pilot Chai Suwathi was the first licensed hot-air balloon pilot for Thailand, Wechter said. Suwathi and Tunsukarat are trying to bring ballooning to Thailand, and they’ve successfully gotten balloons included in civil aviation regulations there, Wechter said.

Although not quite international, Alex and Annette Villa drove some 3,500 miles from the Kenai peninsula in Alaska to hawk reindeer sausage to the masses. It took them about a week to make the trip, toting two trailers.

A couple moseyed up to the stand, but opted for an all beef sausage rather than the reindeer variety.

“Everybody’s not sure,” Annette Villa said, when asked how they’ve sold.

The sausage is put on a bun, topped with grilled onions and a choice of condiments. She described it as lean and not greasy.

“I’ve heard it tastes kind of like elk,” she said, acknowledging that the comparison is of little help if you’ve never eaten elk.