I don't fly balloons. I did fly balloons, but I gave it up. Not because it isn't a lot of fun because it is. I don't fly balloons because, like flying flingwings, it is too much work for a lazy guy like me. With an airplane, you take off, point it where you want to go, trim it out and let it take you there.
Balloons are, however, a joy to watch.
It is then and there that the largest balloon convention in the world is held annually. This event is to ballooning what Airventure at Oshkosh is to airplanes. The 1998 Fiesta was the 27th edition of this annual event and it has grown every year since the inception. This much space is needed for the mobs of people who attend the event, for parking, booths, food service, etc., as well as for the actual launching of balloons. Attendance has grown from fewer than ten thousand the first year to well over a million today.