ALBUQUERQUE, NM (KRQE) – The 52nd Balloon Fiesta is now less than two days away and the city said tens of thousands of visitors will be welcomed to Balloon Fiesta Park this year with more parking and many additional amenities.

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The city has been working on millions of dollars worth of upgrades in recent months. This includes over a thousand new parking spaces and many more flush toilets. “No matter how many times you have experienced it, the festival is a bright spot for our city and state that we look forward to every year,” said Tania Armenta, CEO and president of Visit Albuquerque.

One of the biggest changes this year is parking. The city purchased the Honeywell building’s old parking lot and added 1,650 new parking spaces. “With this parking lot, the likelihood of our parking lot being sold out on the weekend is significantly lower,” said Judith Nakamura, CEO of the AIBF.

But the parking lot is just one of the new additions to this year’s festival, which the governor’s office has funded to the tune of about $15 million. “We expect it to continue to grow, which is why the city has invested in the park museums and much of the infrastructure,” said New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Balloon Fiesta Park now has a new electrical system that will help the main stage and shops along vendor row save half of the generators used in the past. This year, 30 flush toilets will be available at the site as the city works to eventually build permanent facilities. They will also have WiFi for first responders.

Other improvements to the park include 19 new security cameras on the field, a new five-foot-wide ADA walkway on the north side of Balloon Fiesta Parkway, improved stormwater drainage on Pilots Parkway and an updated public address system and speakers.

As for traffic, drivers will travel via the I-25 Comanche/Montgomery project.

“I-25 will look similar to preconstruction, except we moved the lanes to the medians. So I think as we transition into the passing lanes, motorists will realize it’s a little bumpier than usual because we’ve made that shift,” said Ricky Serna with the New Mexico Department of Transportation.

NMDOT said crews will not be closing additional lanes along I-25 between Comanche and Montgomery throughout the duration of the Balloon Fiesta. The maximum speed is 55 miles per hour.

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