Balloon Fiesta to get new leadership — again

The leadership at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is changing.

On Monday, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta Incorporated announced that Paul Smith will return to serve as its interim executive director following the departure of Sam Parks late last week. Balloon Fiesta officials didn’t give a reason for Parks’ departure.

Smith retired from the position in January, and Parks replaced him.

The Board of Directors announced it is beginning an immediate search for a new executive director to lead the 21-member staff.

The 51st Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in October reached new heights with the help of plenty of good weather and an annular solar eclipse.

The nine-day event attracted a record-setting 968,516 guests from around the world.

The guest number is an estimate from the Fiesta, which generates the figure based on advance tickets and passes issued to guests, balloon teams, staff members and others.

The number of attendees at this year’s Fiesta surpassed 2022’s attendance, which drew 828,800 visitors. In 2021, the event drew 783,866 guests.

The 2022 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta had a total economic impact of $203 million on the Albuquerque economy, according to an economic impact study conducted by Forward Analytics. Of that amount, $119 million was in direct spending by Fiesta guests at metro area businesses.

Before retiring, Smith worked with the organization for 26 years.

He initially connected with Balloon Fiesta as a pilot in 1982 when he participated in his first Balloon Fiesta.

Before his promotion to executive director, Parks served as Balloon Fiesta’s director of operations. The operations manager position was eliminated and the responsibilities were absorbed by the new staffing structure, Fiesta officials said.

Parks is also the longest serving balloonmeister for the event, a role he filled from 2013 to 2018. As balloonmeister, Parks was in charge of all ballooning activities and events on the field, and he was the one to decide whether it was safe to launch.

Prior to that, he owned and operated his own business in North Carolina for 28 years.

Parks is also an accomplished gas balloon pilot.

Scott Appelman, who owns Rainbow Ryders, said he was shocked at the turn of events.

“Sam has brought so much to Fiesta and ballooning,” Appelman wrote. “He did an amazing job during the transitional year.”