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Why This Albuquerque Mother Was Charged Under Bennie’s Law

Juan Oliveros
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Why This Albuquerque Mother Was Charged Under Bennie’s Law

An Albuquerque mother is facing criminal charges under Bennie’s after her 14-year-old son accidentally shot a friend in the shoulder. She was the fourth person charged under the law in the city in the last two years. 

Forty-one-year-old Leigh Cleveland turned herself in to Albuquerque police Friday. Subsequently, she was charged under New Mexico’s Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act.

The law makes gun owners potentially criminally liable when they negligently store a firearm in a manner that gives a minor access to it and the child uses the weapon in a threatening manner or causes an injury.

Police say those circumstances came together on Aug. 22 in Cleveland’s home at 2800 block of Manzano Street NE, near San Mateo Boulevard.

According to police, several boys were inside a bathroom when one of them was handling a handgun. The boy, who was 14, had been pointing the gun and pulling the trigger while the magazine and ammunition were not in the weapon.

But after he inserted the magazine and manipulated the slide, the gun fired, hitting another 14-year-old boy in the shoulder.

Responders brought the victim to a hospital with injuries that police described as non-life-threatening. The shooter was taken into custody and transported to the Juvenile Detention Center.

Why was the mother charged?

When interviewed later by detectives, Cleveland told them the firearm belonged to her and that she kept it in an office inside the home. She also told investigators that her children knew where the guns were kept, relying that they were not supposed to touch them.

But investigators say the firearms were not locked or otherwise secured in a way that prevented children from getting to them.

A search of Cleveland’s office area turned up three handguns, including one Glock on top of a dresser and two more handguns inside a dresser drawer. Two of the firearms had loaded magazines.

Investigators also recovered additional magazines, ammunition and a cellphone from the residence.

As of June 2026, New Mexico law enforcement had used the Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act in 35 cases since it took effect in 2023, according to state court data. Out of those cases, at least 16 were thrown out, often as part of plea deals. 

Cleveland was the fourth person charged under the law in the city in the past two years. 

The case remains an allegation, and Cleveland is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty in court.

‘We’ll Take Your Hand’: Tomasita’s Employees Find Temporary Work After Fire Forces Restaurant Closure

Gregg Morgan
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‘We’ll Take Your Hand’: Tomasita’s Employees Find Temporary Work After Fire Forces Restaurant Closure

Tomasita’s in Albuquerque has been closed since Thursday after a fire damaged parts of the restaurant. Its employees, though, will remain busy this Balloon Fiesta. 

More than 25 Tomasita’s employees have secured temporary jobs while the fire-damaged establishment remains closed during the international event.

Sadie’s of New Mexico co-owner William Stafford said his restaurant stepped in to offer jobs to workers affected by the fire. 

“We’re in our 72nd year here in the North Valley, my aunt Sadie started this gig in 1954, and she always always taught us be consistent and be kind-hearted,” Stafford told KOB 4.

He said they wanted to reach out to Tomasita’s employees and let them know they had a place to go.

“And it is temporary, but who knows what’s going to happen in the future? A fire like that is very devastating, and we want to make sure that we’re all together in this,” he added

Investigators said an electrical issue involving a bathroom exhaust fan sparked the fire at Tomasita’s. Authorities said the restaurant could remain closed for weeks before it can consider reopening.

Balloon Fiesta Opens Opportunities

Stafford said Balloon Fiesta creates one of the busiest stretches of the year for many businesses. That makes this time especially important for restaurant workers who rely on the extra income, he said.

“This is balloon fiesta time. This is time, right now for people. A lot of people rely on the money that they make during this time, and so I think it’s really important to be able to reach out and say, you know, we’ll take your hand. We’ll take you in. We’ll do what we can for you at this time,” he said.

Yeller Sub and Garcia’s Kitchen have also opened temporary positions for Tomasita’s workers while the restaurant is still closed.

Tomasita’s has yet to announce when it will open its doors again. 

Cell Towers in the Sky: The Next Big Game‑Changer?

Juan Oliveros
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Cell Towers in the Sky: The Next Big Game‑Changer?

An unmanned high-altitude airship flew nearly 30,000 kilometres from New Mexico to Japan and back, providing mobile broadband from the stratosphere to ordinary smartphones in a trial which could have a transformative effect on the way wireless networks are constructed.

U.S. aerospace company Sceye announced on September 9 that its Service Test 1 (ST1) mission was officially moving forward. 

The unmanned platform was launched on August 9 from New Mexico. It arrived in Japan 13 days later and remained in Japanese airspace for more than a week before re-entering U.S. airspace on September 4. Then, the aircraft reached near the company’s headquarters in Moriarty, New Mexico on September 5 to carry out its final checks and for a planned descent.

Over Japan, the platform cooperated with SoftBank Corp. in order to send text messages, make voice calls, provide internet access and deliver video streaming directly to devices that had not been modified via SoftBank’s core network. The engineers also carried out tests involving emergency alerts, communication with drones and onboard edge computing. 

The aircraft was carrying SceyeCELL, basically a “cell tower in the sky.” The company says that just one of these high‑altitude systems can cover the same area as about 500 regular cell towers on the ground. 

“Groundbreaking and historic only begin to describe our ST1 flight,” Sceye founder and CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen said in a statement. “This mission proved not only that our technology, vehicle systems, payload, and operational infrastructure are ready for connectivity services, but also that the stratosphere is where the future non-terrestrial infrastructure lies.”

The platform operated at an altitude ranging from 16.5 to 17 kilometres and kept itself within a station-keeping radius of as little as 5 kilometres over a target region off the coast of Japan. 

Data was processed on board by a server that had been fitted on the platform, giving an average round-trip response time of 68 milliseconds, which is more than 40 per cent faster if the same tasks had been carried out via internet-based cloud servers, as stated by Sceye and SoftBank. 

The two companies described this as the world’s first successful test of a mobile core network and web server functioning completely from a high-altitude platform.

HAPS, which are known as high-altitude platform systems, lie between terrestrial cell towers and satellites. They are sufficiently near the Earth to allow high-capacity links to be established, while at the same time being high enough to cover a large area. Sceye states that they can stay over a particular area for long periods at only a fraction of the cost of systems in orbit.

ST1 is the first time that Sceye has flown to Asia and marks the opening of its Service Test Program. SoftBank, which is a major Japanese telecommunications operator and an investor in Sceye, has indicated that it could be interested in commercial HAPS services in Japan as early as 2027.

Still, the trans-Pacific flight and the live connectivity tests suggests that stratospheric platforms could one day complement, or, in certain areas, lessen dependence on, existing ground towers and low-Earth orbit satellite networks.

New Mexico Launches State Meat and Poultry Inspection Program, Becoming 31st State to Offer In-State Alternative

Ruben Reyes
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New Mexico Launches State Meat and Poultry Inspection Program, Becoming 31st State to Offer In-State Alternative

New Mexico launched a state-run meat and poultry inspection program Thursday, opening a new pathway for local producers and processors to inspect and sell their products within state lines.

The program, developed jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New Mexico Livestock Board, allows facilities to operate under state supervision rather than federal inspection. This initiative makes New Mexico the 31st state to establish an approved state meat inspection program.

“If you can’t get into a federally inspected plant, or there’s not one that’s convenient for you, this allows other plants that are in different areas to come under state inspection,” said Eddie Behrends, executive manager of meat and poultry inspection for the state Livestock Board. “They can provide that service, and then you can sell the animals,” he added.

Under the program, state inspectors will conduct pre-harvest and post-slaughter examinations to ensure products meet USDA food safety standards.

Efforts to build the program accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when supply chain disruptions and labor shortages caused severe backlogs at large national meatpacking plants. While grocery store shelves ran low, local ranchers often had limited options to process and market their beef.

“We didn’t have enough processors that were inspected to where they could sell their meat to the locals, to the neighbors, to grocery stores and all that,” Behrends said. “And so, we felt like we needed another avenue for these processors to take their animals to, and then be able to sell that product.”

State lawmakers passed Senate Bill 37 in 2024, authorizing the Livestock Board to build the framework required to meet federal standards.

The state program offers an alternative for local sales, though it comes with specific limits:

Federal Designation: Facilities maintaining USDA inspection can continue selling meat across state lines, whereas state-inspected products can only be sold within New Mexico.

Custom Exempt Processors: Small facilities that process meat strictly for personal or individual owner consumption remain exempt from full inspection regulations.

Behrends noted that state inspectors plan to visit custom exempt facilities every three to four months to offer support and encourage interested operations to transition into full state-inspected status.

Agriculture industry leaders welcomed the move. Tom Paterson, president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, said state inspection will streamline operations for local producers who previously faced long delays securing USDA approval.

“It’s a big deal for New Mexico consumers who want to buy New Mexico … grass-raised beef from a rancher,” Paterson said. “It’s big for ranchers because now they can sell that to New Mexico consumers.”

In a statement, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins praised the state’s initiative.

“New Mexico’s approval reflects our commitment to empowering small and very small processors, supporting local producers, and increasing resilience in the supply chain while protecting consumers with safe, wholesome and properly labeled food,” Rollins said.

While the new protocol addresses local market access, industry officials acknowledge ranchers still face broader headwinds, including prolonged drought, rising operational costs, and an ongoing shortage of skilled butchers. However, supporters view the program as a crucial step toward strengthening the state’s agricultural economy and food resilience. 

October Celestial Events: Saturn, Meteor Showers, and Planetary Encounters in New Mexico Skies

Juan Oliveros
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October Celestial Events: Saturn, Meteor Showers, and Planetary Encounters in New Mexico Skies

New Mexico skywatchers can look forward to a busy October, with Saturn in opposition, two meteor showers, and several close encounters between the moon and nearby planets.

These celestial events offer stargazers opportunities to observe both solar system targets and distant celestial objects. New Mexico’s remote desert landscapes and designated dark-sky sites provide especially favorable conditions for viewing the night sky.

Saturn shines at opposition

Saturn takes center stage Oct. 4, when the planet reaches opposition, placing Earth between Saturn and the sun. Around opposition, Saturn appears brighter than usual and remains visible for most of the night.

The ringed planet will be visible in the constellation Cetus. A backyard telescope should reveal its rings, though their appearance will depend on their changing angle as seen from Earth.

The event offers a convenient opportunity for beginning astronomers and families to observe Saturn, which can also be seen without a telescope.

Moon approaches Mars and Jupiter

Early risers can look for a close pairing of the crescent moon and reddish Mars in the eastern sky around Oct. 5.

Another notable event is expected around Oct. 6, when the moon and Jupiter appear close together. A lunar occultation, in which the moon passes in front of a planet, may be visible from some locations.

Jupiter will disappear behind the moon while both objects are still low on the eastern horizon. The occultation will not be visible from New Mexico.

Two meteor showers peak

The Draconid meteor shower is expected to peak around Oct. 8-9. The shower typically produces relatively few meteors, but its early-evening peak can make it convenient for observers who prefer not to stay up late.

The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Draco in the northern sky. How many are visible will depend on local sky conditions and the observer’s location.

The Orionid meteor shower, associated with debris from Halley’s Comet, is expected to peak around Oct. 21-22. The shower is known for fast-moving meteors and occasional bright fireballs.

Moonlight may affect visibility, depending on the moon’s phase and position. Observers generally have better chances of spotting meteors after midnight and before dawn, when the radiant is higher in the sky.

Dark skies offer opportunities for deep-sky viewing

October also provides opportunities to observe objects beyond the solar system, including the Andromeda Galaxy and various nebulae. Binoculars or a telescope can help reveal objects that are difficult to see with the unaided eye.

Mars is also expected to pass near the Beehive star cluster during the month, offering another potential target for binocular observers.

The month’s full moon, traditionally known as the Hunter’s Moon, is another highlight for skywatchers. Its sheer brightness, however, can make faint stars and deep-sky objects harder to see even with the aid of binoculars and telescopes.

New Mexico’s remote deserts, national monuments and designated International Dark Sky places offer locations for observing celestial events away from urban light pollution. Among the state’s most notable dark-sky destinations are Cosmic Campground, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Capulin Volcano National Monument, and Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, which was designated an International Dark Sky Park (Silver-tier) by DarkSky International in 2016.

Astronomy enthusiasts should check local observatory and astronomy club schedules for public viewing sessions and star parties.

Meet New Mexico’s 2027 Teacher of the Year: Volcano Vista Educator Kristin Garletts

Gregg Morgan
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Meet New Mexico’s 2027 Teacher of the Year: Volcano Vista Educator Kristin Garletts

An Albuquerque educator received recognition for inspiring learners inside and outside the classroom. She is Kristin Garletts, a teacher at Volcano Vista High School. The New Mexico Public Education Department officially named her the 2027 Teacher of the Year during an assembly on Friday.

The award celebrates Garletts’ significant contributions to her school, district, and community. It highlights her leadership and influence among educators at Albuquerque Public Schools and the entire state.

“Teaching is still a great career to get into,” Garletts said in a statement. “There’s so much good that we can do, and there are so many good things happening. … It’s our job to make them know that they can do anything they want to do.”

Garletts, National Board Certified Teacher, is a ninth-grade English language arts and journalism teacher. She creates a dynamic classroom that challenges students to meet high standards through critical thinking, analytical writing, and real-world activities. She is also known to build personal connections with her students.

Garletts supports multilingual learners, adapts instruction for students with disabilities, and mentors student journalists to produce meaningful stories. She fosters an inclusive environment where creative and analytical thinking can grow side by side. 

“Kristin Garletts represents the very best of New Mexico’s educators: accomplished, innovative and deeply committed to every student she serves,” said Public Education Secretary Mariana Padilla.

The PED chief said Garletts empowers students to find their voices, supports her colleagues, and leads with humility and service. She will represent New Mexico’s teachers in 2027. 

APS Superintendent Gabriella Durán Blakey, for her part, said the district is thrilled to see Garletts named Teacher of the Year. 

“Kristin is an amazing teacher who goes out of her way to connect with students,” she said. 

Garletts’ Journey as an Educator

At school, Garletts leads technology initiatives and supports her fellow teachers to enhance their digital teaching skills. She provides tailored professional development and one-on-one coaching as she helps them integrate digital tools into their daily lessons. 

“Her leadership is characterized by humility and service, and she empowers both students and educators to become confident, creative and lifelong learners,” Volcano Vista High School Principal Melissa Sedillo said.

Garletts’ award highlights her 20-year career across a wide range of roles in education.

Over the past 20 years, she has worked as an English and English language development teacher, school librarian, and literacy mentor. She also served as a program coordinator, professional learning community leader, and technology support specialist. 

Garletts hold state endorsements in language arts, reading, teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), and library media sciences.

Garletts studied at Northern Arizona University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English education. She graduated summa cum laude.

About the New Mexico Teacher of the Year Program

The New Mexico Teacher of the Year program began in 1963. Each year, it invites school districts and charter schools across the state to nominate outstanding educators and celebrate excellence in teaching. 

The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association sponsors the program and provides funding for recipient’s travel and professional development. The awardees serve as ambassadors for public education.

New Mexico Introduces ‘Yucky the Yucca’ Mascot to Fight Littering

Juan Oliveros
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New Mexico Introduces ‘Yucky the Yucca’ Mascot to Fight Littering

New Mexico has introduced Yucky the Yucca on Friday, a rather unappealing mascot that aims to get the residents to stop littering and to help to keep the state’s desert areas clean.

The campaign’s official website states that Yucky was inspired by the yucca, which is New Mexico’s state plant. The character’s story starts with a plant who is proud of her name until wind-blown plastic bags, wrappers and bottles get caught in her spiky leaves, and end up dirty, miserable and grumpy.

Yucky is characterized as tough, resilient, and outspoken. The mascot’s arrival is part of the state’s Breaking Bad Habits and #KeepLitterOut initiatives, making litter prevention more appealing, particularly among children and families. 

In January 2026, the office of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the Breaking Bad Habits campaign gathered more than 19,000 volunteers, who took part in 250 cleanup events arranged by 190 local organizations. The events had removed over 10.5 million pounds of litter in 2025. 

The administration launched the anti-littering initiative in October 2024. It involved public awareness activities and partnerships with communities to prevent littering and illegal dumping of wastes.

The campaign’s previous advertisements featured actor Bryan Cranston playing his Breaking Bad character, Walter White. Now, the state brought in Yucky, with a particular focus on making environmental responsibility accessible to younger audiences.

Residents can participate by joining community cleanup events, organizing their own activities, or by simply sharing the campaign’s message.

Is New Mexico’s $40 Billion Meta Penalty Request Excessive?

Ruben Reyes
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Is New Mexico’s $40 Billion Meta Penalty Request Excessive?

New Mexico has requested $35 billion to $40 billion in civil penalties from Meta Platforms Inc. The request has sparked a debate over whether it is a necessary deterrent against corporate deception or simply an excessive punishment. 

Last month, a jury ruled that Meta has violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act about 43 million times by making 26 misleading statements over more than a decade about how Facebook handled users’ personal data. According to the law, each violation carries a maximum penalty of $5,000, potentially reaching roughly $219 billion. 

On Thursday, State Attorney Randi McGinn, however, asked District Judge Francis Mathew to begin with the maximum penalty and reduce it to between $35 billion and $40 billion. She cited due process limits and constitutional bans on excessive fines. 

The amount, McGinn argued, would still be the largest civil penalty in U.S. history and would send a clear message to other tech giants.

That amount is not only fair, but “it would serve the purpose of deterrence not just for Meta but for any big company that would lie to the people of New Mexico,” McGinn told the court. “The world is watching us … and I think somebody has to stand up to these tech titans who think they are bulletproof,” she stressed.

Meta attorney Matthew Nicholson rejected the request, describing it as disproportionate to any proven harm. He considered the tens-of-billions-dollar award “surreal, shocking to the conscience and unconstitutional” and “grossly disproportionate.”

“The [Unfair Practices Act] exists to promote free and fair markets for consumers so they can buy goods and services,” Nicholson said. “Awarding tens of billions in statutory penalties would destroy those very markets by chilling businesses, driving them out of state for fear that they too might face such awards that would hurt the very consumers the [act] is intended to protect.”

The case grew out of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which data from millions of Facebook users was harvested without consent and used for political advertising before the 2016 election. The jury calculated the number of violations in part by multiplying the misleading statements by New Mexico’s population or by the estimated number of Facebook users in the state.

Nicholson urged the judge to impose a much lower fine based on a narrower set of violations limited to actual users, rather than broader population counts.

Mathew has not yet ruled and is expected to issue a decision in the coming weeks. 

The request follows New Mexico’s earlier courtroom victory against Meta this year over youth safety claims, which produced $375 million in civil penalties and an additional $567 million to address mental health harms. 

Both cases are likely to face years of appeals.

New Mexico’s Housing Crisis Has ‘No One-Size-Fits-All’ Solution, Housing Policy Interns and UNM Law Students Find

Juan Oliveros
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New Mexico’s Housing Crisis Has ‘No One-Size-Fits-All’ Solution, Housing Policy Interns and UNM Law Students Find

Two University of New Mexico law students found that New Mexico’s housing crisis cannot be addressed with a single, one-size-fits-all solution. Policies that may work in Albuquerque, they said, may not meet the needs of rural counties, Tribal communities, or border towns.

This summer, Will Martin and Noah Passaris, who are second-year law students at UNM, worked as housing policy interns with Bernalillo County’s Community School Innovation and Strategic Partnerships Department. The internship gave them a firsthand look at gaps in the state’s housing policies and underscored the importance of listening to communities before defining their needs.

Both interns began by studying housing challenges in rural and urban areas across New Mexico. They then interviewed housing officials, including representatives from the Governor’s Office of Housing, and traveled around the state to gather input from local stakeholders.

Based on their research, Martin and Passaris identified eight priority issues where state policy could make a meaningful difference. They also prepared recommendations and drafted proposed policy language for those issues.

Their work showed that housing policy often focuses on metropolitan areas, which can leave the specific circumstances of rural communities overlooked.

Passaris said visits to different counties showed how widely housing needs vary across the state. “The kind of housing needed in a rural county in the southeast is different from that needed in Bernalillo County and even more different from what is required in Tribal or border areas,” Passaris said.

“What surprised me the most in this summer’s project was learning how deep the need for housing reform runs in New Mexico,” he said. “We are decades behind other states in terms of policy infrastructure and coordinated response. Watching this gap close through conversations in real time made the stakes of this work feel very real, which is hard to get from a classroom alone,” he added.  

State faces demand for 58,000 additional homes

The scope of the housing crisis is significant, which New Mexico is trying to solve. Housing New Mexico, the state’s mortgage finance authority, has projected that New Mexico will need about 58,000 additional housing units by 2045.

Its 2026 update to the New Mexico Housing Strategy identifies the need for a range of housing types, including apartments and smaller homes, to meet rising demand.

The strategy builds on a statewide roadmap first developed in 2022. It outlines four main priorities: increasing housing production at all income levels, preserving existing affordable housing, expanding homeownership opportunities, and improving housing stability for people experiencing homelessness or needing additional support.

State expands housing investment and homelessness programs

New Mexico has directed substantial public funding toward the housing crisis and related infrastructure needs. The governor’s office says proposed budget and capital funding for the 2026 legislative session totals more than $175 million for affordable housing and related initiatives.

The administration has also pointed to zoning reform as a way to speed up housing production and allow more homes to be built.

The governor’s 2026 priorities include proposals to increase housing supply and support homelessness programs. Those proposals are part of a broader effort to remove barriers to housing construction.

The New Mexico Office of Housing, a division of the Department of Workforce Solutions, says its construction investments are helping produce more than 1,000 homes in Bernalillo County and Las Cruces. Other initiatives include shelter facilities, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, and programs for young people experiencing homelessness.

The students cautioned, however, that adding homes is only one part of the solution. Policymakers also need to consider affordability, the condition of existing housing, household incomes, and the specific needs of individual communities.

Local needs matter

Even with new investment, a statewide strategy must account for differences in housing markets and community resources.

For example, a policy designed to encourage apartment construction in a metropolitan area may not address the barriers facing a rural community, where development, infrastructure, and access to financing present different challenges.

Direct consultation with Tribal and border communities is also essential because those communities have distinct priorities and cannot be treated as interchangeable.

For Martin and Passaris, gathering local perspectives was critical to ensuring their recommendations would be useful beyond New Mexico’s largest population centers.

Their research gives policymakers an opportunity to adapt state-level reforms to different local conditions while working toward the shared goal of safe, affordable housing.

Are You Excited for This Year’s Balloon Fiesta? Albuquerque Gets Ready for the Weekend Launch

Gregg Morgan
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Are You Excited for This Year’s Balloon Fiesta? Albuquerque Gets Ready for the Weekend Launch

Are you ready for this year’s Balloon Fiesta? The City of Albuquerque is already preparing for the highly anticipated event, which kicks off Saturday. As part of its efforts to get ready, the city purchased a parking lot for $3.4 million. This adds six acres of parking space to Balloon Fiesta Park. 

The lot had been on loan from Presbyterian for the past 20 years. The city’s purchase now makes it part of the approximately 850 parking spots available for vehicles at the park. Mayor Tim Keller highlighted why securing the property matters.

“When land is for sale around here, the most important thing is to lock it in so that we can continue to use it for Fiesta, because it was very possible that anyone would just buy it and develop on it,” Keller said in an interview. “But we need the parking, we need everything else that comes along with it.”

He said the new ownership won’t change how the space looks, aside from a few minor adjustments to the fencing.

Meanwhile, the launch field is drying out after weeks of heavy rain, clearing the way for the event. According to Parks and Recreation Director Dave Simon, the city recently finished an underground drainage system that has helped keep water from pooling on the field. 

Simon added that the city has kept vehicles off the grass for the past week to reduce impact on the area.

Officials Urge Residents to Stay Alert

City officials are putting safety and security first as balloons take off this Saturday. Albuquerque police and Fire Rescue officials are stepping up efforts to prevent theft during the event. Auto theft and car break-ins have been concerns during previous Balloon Fiesta celebrations. 

If you’re attending the fiesta, Albuquerque Police Chief Cecily Barker urges you to remain vigilant and take precautions to protect your vehicle and belongings. 

“The biggest thing is don’t keep anything visible for people to see and take anything valuable out of your vehicle,” Barker said in an interview. “And I know it sounds like common sense, but locking vehicles is so important.”

Officials said you must report any suspicious activity to authorities. They said if you see something unusual, you should say something.

550 Balloons Set to Fill the Sky 

By Saturday, Balloon Fiesta Park will welcome more than 550 hot air balloons and hundreds of thousands of spectators. You may even spot some of the 110 special-shaped balloons. 

Balloon-meister Henry Rosenbaum said 700 pilots will take part this year. He oversees balloon operations and coordinates with pilots and crews.

Rosenbaum said no other event in the world comes close to bringing together 550 balloons. He added that the public can walk around and chat with the pilots and crews before they inflate their balloons. 

This year’s theme celebrates Route 66’s 100th anniversary.

“The theme for this year is the scenic route, and so we always try to incorporate the theme into everything. And so you’ll see a lot of road runners. You’ll see a lot of road signs. Lots of really beautiful colors, bright colors,” Balloon Fiesta merchandise manager Chani Kaibetoney said in an interview. 

Check Out This Year’s Balloon Fiesta Merchandise and Pins

At 5:45 a.m. on Saturday, the fiesta kicks off with a drone show. But you can already get a taste of what’s in store as early as now.

The merchandise tent opened Thursday and will welcome shoppers again Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can pick up this year’s poster, including signed ones.

The merch tent also has plenty of pins for fiesta fans to collect.

Last year, Balloon Fiesta introduced mystery pin boxes for the first time. They’re back this year, and you can get yours this Special Shapes Day.

You can also grab a drone show pin, but supplies are limited.

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