Balloon Fiesta is taking its show on the Mother Road. Find out more about this year's inaugural event

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is flying it out of the park this year with a new event.

Globito Glow in the Village will light up the night Monday, Oct. 6, which is also New Mexico Day at the fiesta.

“We’re going to have 66 globito balloons, which are remote-controlled balloons,” said Stephanie Kitts, Balloon Fiesta communications manager. “They’re going to be lined up on Fourth Street, to do a static glow.”

Globitos are scaled down versions of hot air balloons, and can be standard or special shapes.

The event celebrates not only Balloon Fiesta, but also the Centennial of Route 66 and the 66th anniversary of the village of Los Ranchos, Kitts said.

“Having a stretch of Route 66 through New Mexico is always something that we’ve been proud of and we try to celebrate as a state in general …” Kitts said. “And Balloon Fiesta being such a big part of culture and tourism in New Mexico, it just felt right to do something to help commemorate the anniversary.”

Globito Glow in the Village will be a free event in an effort to make it more accessible to the community, which was a focus when planning the glow, Kitts said.

“Between taking ourselves off the field, offering this event for free, (it) really opens up the accessibility for folks that maybe don’t do Fiesta on a regular basis,” Kitts said.

“So this is a way for us to broaden our horizons a little bit, bring Balloon Fiesta to the community and give folks another option other than what they’re used to,” Kitts said. “We’re really thinking this is going to be geared more towards locals.”

The event will be similar to the traditional fiesta balloon glows.

“The start time is technically 5:30, but the balloons won’t be inflated and glowing until dusk or after dark,” Kitts said.

The event will also feature a new pin that will be available online and at the Balloon Fiesta gift shop.

“We’ve designed and created a special pin,” Kitts said. “It’s going to be a limited edition. It’s a very small run, so they’re going to be pretty coveted, but that’s an exciting piece of it.”

Kitts said she hopes Globito Glow in the Village will spawn more events in the future to go alongside Balloon Fiesta.

“We hope that this does allow us to do more off-field events and dip our toes into more non-traditional events,” Kitts said.

The 2025 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta runs Oct. 4-12.