Friends and Lovers

Mark your calendars, February 12 and 13, as the Friends and Lover's Balloon Rally returns.

Check the schedule below for preliminary details, but we're already looking for sponsors and pilots!

Click the buttons on the right to see the benefits and submit your Sponsor application today!

Pilot Registration is MANDATORY! Deadline to Register is 11 pm Thursday, Feb 10, 2022.

Schedule of Events

Friday, February 11^th

5:00 pm Doors open for pilots, sponsors, and crew, baggie drop-off,

5:30 pm Dinner Buffet opens

6:00 pm Opening Remarks

7:00 pm Raffle, Baggie drop-off closes

8:30 pm Sid Cutter Pavilion closes

Saturday, February 12, 2022

6:30 am Doors open/Pilot scan-in

7:00 Pilot Briefing

TBA Food Competition, Crew Games, Raffle and silent auction

TBA Sid Cutter Pavilion closes

Sunday, February 13, 2022

6:30 am Doors open, Pilot scan-in

7:00 Pilot Briefing

TBA Sunday Brunch ($10 per person, tickets available all weekend.)

TBA Crew of the Year Award, Pilot winners, Crew Game Awards, Raffle and Silent auction winners

TBA Sid Cutter Pavilion closes

The Friends and Lovers Balloon Rally happens near Valentines' Day each February and has been a fun rally since 1975.

Originally called the Albuquerque Cloudbouncer Balloon Rally, it was started as a way to spark interest in the 1975 World Hot Air Balloon Championships and the 4th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta which was moved from February to October that year. According to the January 1975 Cloudbouncer, a hare and hound and possible flight over the Sandia's were planned. Also on the agenda was an "all in fun special social" was planned for Saturday night.

BTW, the first day of the rally featured a hare and hound event from the State Fairgrounds. And did we mentioned it SNOWED? Sunday apparently brought great weather for flying.

Read more about it in the January and February-March 1975 Cloudbouncers. And come back to this page as we get closer to February 2022 for all the details on this always fun event.

Friends and Lovers Balloonmeistern

Note, 1975 was called the Cloudbouncer Balloon Rally and was designed to bridge the gap created when Balloon Fiesta moved from a February event to an October event.
Note we are missing a few. Let us know who was Balloonmeistern those years.

Year	Balloonmeistern	Year	Balloonmeistern
1975	Sid Cutter	2001	Melissa Bond
1976	Greg Wilson K & Diane Terry	2002	Carolyn Grantham
1977	Craig Landon & Tim Thorsen	2003	Jacque Jacobs
1978	John Lynch	2004	Jeanne Schroeder
1979	Marge Ruppenthal	2005	Jennifer Greenwood
1980	Charlotte Kinney McMahon	2006	Rolina "Sam" Tzamaloukas
1981	Neida "Mom" Courtney	2007	Barbara Fricke
1982	Sheri Bachelle Moore	2008	Susan Collins
1983	Gay Jensen	2009	Faye Godfrey
1984	Mary Beck	2010	???
1985	Doni Bird	2011	Cookie See
1986	Kathy Myrick	2012	???
1987	Glenda Watson	2013	???
1988	Sheri Bachelle Moore	2014	MaeBell Pendelton
1989	Pat Brake	2015	Carol Bair
1990	Carol Bair	2016	Janie Jordan
1991	Michelle Siebert	2017	Barbara Fricke
1992	Terry May	2018	Jennifer Garcia
1993	Anna Nalley	2019	Elisa Bustamante & Pat Mezzancello
1994	Cheryl Goettsche	2020	Lynda Crispino
1995	Martha Keyser	2021	None-Non Event Flying only due to COVID
1996	Jeanne Tolman	2022	TBA
1997	Carla Devaney
1998	Stephanie Johnstone
1999	Jamie Gardner
2000	Ann Piper