The south RV lot is where the balloons will come and land sometimes after leaving the field. It is amazing! Not sure how much it really costs to stay here, as we volunteer our time as Navigators. Working LOTS of hours, we get our site for nothing. There are groups here, too, and some areas have electric brought in. We just boondock. There is water and pump out service available. The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta has HUNDREDS of balloons taking off in the morning during Mass Ascension! Albuquerque is known for its "BOX", which means the winds go usually south near the surface, and north a bit higher. So they inflate, go up, move south, go higher, move back north, go back down, head south, etc. It is AMAZING to watch! And I can't even count the number of times that balloons have landed right in the south lot, within feet of RV's! You can't even imagine. This is a bucket list, folks! South lot is ideal. Sure, it's not too level. But you can usually work around that with blocks. We are very close together, so if dry camping, it is really nice and considerate for you to use a Genturi to funnel fumes from your genny up, up and away. Our group that volunteers each year requires it. You can find out more at the Balloon Fiesta website. Look for the area that talks about Navigators. It seems that cell coverage should be pretty good, but we struggle with both our Verizon hot spot and our ATT cell. Probably because of the sheer numbers of people in the area during that week.

In my opinion, there's no better place to stay at Albuquerque's Hot Air Balloon Fiesta than the South Lot. The dry camping spots are the most affordable (costing you $40/night instead of $95-250/night for the VIP or Presidential lots). And you get an even better experience because SO many balloons fly right over your roof and land a few feet from your rig! Pro Tip #1: You can book your spot in the South Lot for a week before the Balloon Fiesta starts, and it's only $20/night. We loved this option because it allowed us to be the first ones setup and we didn't have to deal with squeezing into a spot while hundreds of other campers were parking. Pro Tip #2: There are multiple casinos in the Albuquerque area that allow overnight parking. You can stage at these casinos that are only 10 minutes away, making your commute to the South Lot super short and easy - especially if you are trying to park next to friends!

We took our 26' Brave to ABQ for the 2019 Balloon Fiesta. Living in sothern NM, we have watched portions on TV many times, but this was our first actual visit. We stayed three nights (Wed-Thu-Fri) at the Fiesta RV lot south of the launch field, also run by the Fiesta folks for the city. That is a great 3 night stay, because the Mass Accession is Saturday mornings, and over before the 1100 checkout time. Mostly dry camping, a some sites with power & water at (IMHO) premium prices. Free (included in RV space) shuttle buses from RV lot to launch field every 15 minutes or so 'till past 2200. Others have mentioned the uneven parking spots, but we were lucky and were guided to one that was near level. Our MH has short fold up hydraulic jacks that only extend 6". The water & dump services stayed busy, but we did not need to them. There is potable water available for free at the entry station, so we topped off before parking. 3 Star rating for access could be 1 star at times. We arrived around 1600 and They were watering the main roads to keep dust down, but it's still mostly a dirt lot with no gravel. Sadly, the Thursday morning launch and evening glow were cancelled due to wind, which brought in a very chilly morning on Thursday. Both Friday and Saturday flights went off as expected, and the balloons came right over the RV lot for a great show at no extra charge! Many were able to change altitude and thus wind direction to return to the field, called flying the "box" by the balloonists. Some landed right in the open center of the RV lot. We only went to the launch field one session ($10 ticket) to see the Friday evening balloon glow close up. There were also two parachute team jumps Friday, one before dark with a huge flag and smoke trails. One after the glow in the dark! The after dark jump featured (I think 4) jumpers with flares and fireworks and made quite a show. I got a short (21 sec) cell phone video of them. Looks like I cannot do video uploads to Campendium directly, only links. As a cautionary note, last year I booked our 3 nights less than 1 hour after 2019 reservations opened a few days after the 2018 Fiesta, and they were the only standard ($40) slots available. We liked it enough to want to go again next year, but at the posted start time, the reservation site got clobbered and I could not connect. When I finally did get thru, both Friday nights were already sold out completely for 2020! We took a Mon-Tue-Wed slot, which only had 2 open.

Stayed at South RV lot 10/5/19 through 10/12/19. Watching hot air balloons fly over our travel trailer in the early morning hours was a wonderful experience. Shuttle service was free, and a convenient way to get to the launch field. These sites do not have hookups, and are great if you are prepared for dry camping. We dumped our tanks and took on fresh water at a local Speedway gas station before arriving. We ran our generator as needed, and people were good about observing quiet hours between 10pm and 5am. Weather was chilly 32 degrees early morning, but reached 70 degrees later in the day. Meow Wolf museum in Santa Fe was fun for us and our ten year old. Also enjoyed Brixens restaurant and Golden Crown Panaderia in Albuquerque.

This was our first time at the festival. If we were to go again we’d try to get the “box view “ or VIP north sites. Very convenient for access to the rally and balloons often drift over and land in the camping area. Be aware of where you’re being parked. Consider if it rains whether your in a potential flooding area. We weren’t impacted but 3 sites over had a river running through it . The staff came and put hay down after the rain stopped. Also, the majority of sites aren’t level, so be sure to bring your leveling blocks (wood), etc. Great experience overall!