Old Town businesses prep for tourists ahead of Balloon Fiesta

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico’s biggest event of the year is just a couple of days away and stores all over Albuquerque are gearing up for visitors. Stores like Old Town Emporium ordered hundreds of souvenirs to fill the baskets of shoppers looking to take home a piece of Albuquerque. Aside from balloon-themed items, merchandise featuring aliens and Bigfoot and Native American jewelry are popular items for tourists.

Meanwhile, tours showing off notable locations around the city are already selling out. “They pretty much sell out every single tour so it’s our biggest time of year obviously and its a lot of fun,” said Trissy Brandvold, Tour ABQ.

Tour ABQ said this time of year, they ramp up the number of tours they offer and expand their hours, They also make sure the trolley is in tip-top condition. “So excited, we love meeting all the new people. It’s a fun time especially down in Old Town,” said Brandvold.

When it comes to giving tourists a taste of New Mexico, Church Street Cafe is ready with extra orders of beans, rice, tortillas, and alcohol for their award-winning margaritas. They’ll also have more than 300 pounds of red and green chile for the weekend alone which is more than double their usual order. “Usually we do about 100-120 pounds a week so yeah, we had to push up the quantities,” said Karla Sandoval, Church Street Cafe. They said wait times can average from 45 minutes to two hours so they have added extra staff to help out.

Balloon Fiesta starts on Saturday and ends on October 13.

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