Zozobra hot air balloon design unveiled ahead of 100th anniversary
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Zozobra is going to reach new heights this year with a special shape hot air balloon. The Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, the City of Santa Fe, and the City of Albuquerque unveiled the design of the hot air balloon shaped as “Old Man Gloom” on Monday.
The balloon is 135 feet tall, weighs 730 pounds, and has a gross volume of 130,000 cubic feet. The Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe worked with both cities to combine two tourism staples: Zozobra in Santa Fe and the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in the Duke City, into one attraction.
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Bryce Risley, the project chair for the Zozobra special shape balloon, said that he helped design the balloon after the 2013 traditional Zozobra. “I want to see the details that I appreciate in Zozobra when he’s made every year, the things that I’m excited to see, the color of his hair, the color of his fingernails, the posturing of his hand, and stuff like that,” said Risley. “Zozobra fans are going to see these little details, and they’re really going to appreciate it.”
Text details on the balloon include Zozobra’s slogan, “Burn Him,” written on the bottom of the hot air balloon, “Santa Fe The City Different,” displayed on the front, and “One Albuquerque arts & culture” is seen on the back of the balloon.
The balloon is being made by Cameron Balloons in the United Kingdom. Risley hopes to have the balloon debut at the 100th burning of Zozobra on Aug. 30 this year and at the Balloon Fiesta in October. “I don’t foresee anything delaying us from reaching our goal. But, that being said, you know, at the end of the day, the balloon is going to exist, it is going to fly, and we will have it,” Risley added.
Risley proposed the idea for a Zozobra hot air balloon when the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe was discussing ways to celebrate Zozobra’s centennial.
The Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe is currently in the process of getting a seasoned balloon pilot to operate the balloon. “It’s going to be amazing, but it’s going to be a very difficult aircraft to operate. A lot of nuances with the shape of it, and how it will respond to weather and winds at different altitudes. So that takes a very experienced pilot,” Risley explained.
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