40th annual St. Patrick’s Hot Air Balloon Rallye this weekend in Belen

BELEN — It’s time for the rainbows to fly.

The St. Patrick’s Day Balloon Rallye is celebrating its 40th year of flying and fun this year, and it’s looking better than ever.

“It’s very exciting,” said Nancy Aubol-Hanks, vice president for the Valencia Flying and Retrieval Society, which organizes the annual hot air balloon rally.

The rally is Friday, March 13 through Sunday, March 15, at Eagle Park, 305 Eagle Lane, Belen.

This year there are 32 “big” balloons that will launch starting at 7 a.m. each day — weather permitting — and 22 radio control balloons will take to the field shortly after launch.

There will also be a motorcycle and car show, beginning around 8:30 a.m., as well as a 40-booth arts and crafts show, plus four food trucks. The society will be selling annual rally t-shirts for $20 and pins for $5 until about 9 a.m. under the tent by the deejay booth.

“They are really ramping up this year. The deejay will be announcing the balloons and making any safety announcement. He’ll be playing music until about noon,” said Aubol-Hanks. “They want to keep people on the field. There’s a lot of stuff to do and it should be a really exciting adventure day.”

This year, the rally will only feature one special shape balloon, the beloved Smokey Bear.

Aubol-Hanks and her balloon, Giggles and Grins, will be doing a balloon stand up at Tomé Head Start on Friday morning.

“I love doing stand ups for kids. They look in the basket, ask really good questions. They are curious and soak information up like a sponge,” she said. “As a community-based balloonist, this is my way to give back.”

The balloon, a soft red with a face on each side, is a personal design for Aubol-Hanks and her husband, Jeff.

“The girl is me, with the green eyes, and the boy is him; he has such a beautiful smile and glasses,” she said.

Society president Frank Martinez will be doing a stand up at Canon Christian Academy in Belen that same morning.

Admission to and parking at the rally is free.

“People can walk out on the field and talk to the pilots and the RC pilots,” she said. “This event is strictly to give pleasure to the community. We are trying to do something nice for the community.”

Aubol-Hanks said she and the society wanted to give a big thank you to the city of Belen for sponsoring the event, providing the pilot dinner and propane for the balloons.

“This is our 40th and it’s pretty special,” she said. “We’ve had consistent sponsorships from the village of Los Lunas and Belen for 40 years. That’s really special and we appreciate that.”