Attendance at international balloon museum tops 1 million

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Visits made to the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum since it first opened in 2005 now total more than 1 million.

Officials say the attendance milestone was surpassed during an annual folk festival that was held at the museum in early June.

The adjacent balloon park also is home to an annual international balloon fiesta that draws hundreds of pilots and tens of thousands of spectators to Albuquerque each October for the lifting off of hot air and gas balloons.

Museum officials say annual attendance is currently on par with last year’s record-setting total attendance of 133,748. They say that in the last several years, the museum’s annual attendance has jumped by nearly 50 per cent.