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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Lucy Leeson

Watch live: Hot air balloons fill the skies above New Mexico at Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

Getty Images

Watch live as hot air balloons fill the skies above New Mexico during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta on Monday 9 October.

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta brings colorful displays to the New Mexico sky in the international event, which attracts hundreds of thousands of spectators every year.

A spectacular drone light show before sunrise started the event on Saturday. This was followed by a mass ascension of hot air balloons.

The festival is held over nine days. Visitors will be treated to an array of colourful and special-shaped balloons.

The annual gathering has become a major economic driver for the state’s biggest city.

The Rio Grande and nearby mountains provide spectacular backdrops to the fiesta that began with a few pilots launching 13 balloons from an open lot near a shopping centre in 1972.

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