Festival of Lights: Chanukah Night Glow features menorah made up of nine hot air balloons, music, activities

Witness and experience the world’s only hot air balloon menorah during the Chanukah Night Glow.

The event begins at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29, at Ballon Fiesta Park and the Sid Cutter Pilots’ Pavilion. Admission is free and the event is open to the public. Required registration can be done at menorahglow.com, by clicking on the “Join the Glow” tab.

The menorah is made up of nine separate hot air balloons that combine to create the illuminated multibranched candelabra, used during the Festival of Lights.

“Chanukah, is eight days, eight nights, and we have what is called the shamash, which is the one that you light the other (branches of the menorah) with, so that one’s a little higher,” said Rabbi Chaim Schmukler, of Chabad of New Mexico. “So they have four and four and then one higher in the middle in a menorah. Of course, (a hot air balloon menorah is) uniquely New Mexican and I would say in the world as well.”

Festival of Lights: Chanukah Night Glow features menorah made up of nine hot air balloons, music, activities

The menorah, made up of nine hot air balloons, draws people from other parts of the country and the world as well as throughout New Mexico, Schmukler said.

“We’ve had people come from Mexico City, we’ve had people come from all over, different places throughout the years to see this,” he added. “People look forward to it. It’s become an annual thing and people really look forward to it.”

A separate menorah, which stands about 18 feet, also will be lit as part of the event. In addition to the giant menorah lighting, attendees can enjoy a concert by one of the world’s top Jewish singers, Moshe Tischler, who will be performing in English and Hebrew.

“This year we’re able to get one of the greatest Jewish singers, Moshe Tischler, to come down,” Schmukler said. “People are very excited about it, but we’re able to get him, especially on what is the busiest day for Jewish singers, and we got him. It should be really fantastic. People are gonna have a wonderful time and a great experience.”

Rounding out the festivities are Chanukah foods and children’s activities including face painting and balloon making.

“We’re also going to have Chanukah foods, which are traditionally done with with oil,” Schmukler said. “We’re going to have latkes, which are potato pancakes and donuts for everyone, and we’re going to have special things for the kids. We’re going to have little gifts for the kids, for instance, we’re going to have light up Chanukah necklaces. We’re going to have dreidels, which are the spin things that we use on Chanukah and Chanukah chocolate gelt as well as $2 (bills) because traditionally, we do give real money, so they’ll receive that as well.”

Prizes will be given to attendees who guess how many dreidels are inside a large lucite dreidel filled with hundreds of the spinning tops.

“Everyone will have a lot of fun, adults, children, it’s for everyone,” Schmukler said. “People love it. I know from last year, the feedback we’ve received, people are really looking forward to going back. If the weather holds up, God willing, like it did this prior year, we’ll have it outdoors. We have heaters set up and seats set up, and we also have an indoor area if people want to stay indoors, but it gets pretty warm with the balloons and the heaters. But if, God forbid it’s too difficult, then we can always move indoors. So then the concert can move indoors, but we’re planning to begin outside.”