Aerial affair: Four Corners rally lets eventgoers 'whet their appetite' for hot air balloons

Those seeking an appetizer to Albuquerque’s International Balloon Fiesta should head to the northwest corner of the state during the last weekend in September.

While it might lack the fanfare of its more famous counterpart, the Four Corners Balloon Rally delivers some of the same attractions — only on a smaller scale. The event, which takes place at various locations in Farmington from Friday, Sept. 27, through Sunday, Sept. 29, is highlighted by balloon ascensions in the morning and balloon glows in the evening.

Aerial affair: Four Corners rally lets eventgoers 'whet their appetite' for hot air balloons

“People kind of get to whet their appetite a little bit,” said Gina Intoppa, who is the integrated marketing and communications manager for the City of Farmington. “With the week before the Balloon Fiesta, it’s obviously much smaller scale than what (is being done) in Albuquerque. So it’s a nice little entrance for a lot of families that maybe don’t have the ability to travel to Albuquerque or can’t take on the expense — or just don’t want to deal with all of the chaos of thousands and thousands of people.”

While the rally existed in previous years, this is the third iteration of the event in its current form hosted by the City of Farmington. According to Intoppa, approximately 20 to 25 balloons will be on hand for the festivities.

“I know last year there were some local from the Four Corners region, but there were quite a few that were coming from different parts of the U.S., as well,” she said.

All of the ballooning events are free to attend, and Intoppa estimates that thousands of people will turn out over the course of the weekend. Attendance typically peaks for the balloon glow events, which take place on Sept. 27 at San Juan College and on Sept. 28 in downtown Farmington.

“We only ascended on Friday last year because of the weather, but I believe we had 7,000 to 10,000 people at the college,” Intoppa said. “They have a little bit of a bigger space, so that’s usually one of the bigger events.”

Meanwhile, the ascension will begin on Sept. 27 at Lake Farmington before shifting to Piedra Vista High School on Sept. 28 and Sept 29. The lake is a smaller site, so some balloons will take to the sky from surrounding elementary and middle schools on the first day.

“The kids really loved it,” Intoppa said. “They got to ask the balloonists questions.”

The high school, however, will allow for all the balloons on site to ascend from one location.

“When we’ve done it in the past, we’ve had to sort of launch in waves, just because of the staging area. We can’t inflate everyone at the same time. It’s a beautiful location to ascend,” Intoppa says of the lake.

“So I’m glad that we’re gonna get to do both this year. It’ll be nice to do hopefully a mass ascension and then also have that picturesque lake ascension happening as well.”

Attendees who don’t want to deal with the crowds for the ascensions are encouraged to head to one of the off-site viewing locations — Saddleback Park, Lions Wilderness Park, San Juan College and Farmington Public Library — along the projected flight path.

An added perk is that visitors will have the chance to experience some of the other attractions Farmington and the surrounding areas have to offer.

“The other fun thing about the event is you have the morning and the evening stuff, so it leaves the day open for a lot of outdoor recreation activities,” Intoppa said. “So a lot of people that come into town will do some things like, Salmon Ruins or Aztec Ruins during the day. So it’s a great opportunity to sort of experience Farmington in the Four Corners region and get in some really fun ballooning events.”