This week on What’s Up Wednesday, we celebrate an incredible week of ballooning and sales, look ahead to the coming weeks, and even take a peek at next year.
We’re just about 70 hours away from the end of the 54th Balloon Fiesta, and what a week it has been. We had green flags and launches on eight of the 10 mornings, including Balloons Aloft. Sales were great, viewership on Balloon Fiesta Live! was strong, and attendance was high. It’s too early for official numbers, but with great weather throughout all nine days, this should be a very successful year.
On the sales side, our new mega-size merchandise tent was a hit. Guests loved having room to shop and try on items, and many products sold out—including the poster and the custom boxed ornament. Our next step is to bring the remaining merchandise back to the warehouse and verify inventory counts. Once that is complete, we can make items available again online and in the Gift Shop. That process will take a couple of weeks.
If something you wanted was sold out online, check back every few days to see whether we have made more available. Once we determine that an item is completely sold out, it will be removed from the store.
This is also a good time to remember that Balloon Fiesta is an annual event, and our merchandise is designed for each year. Now that the 2026 event is behind us, we’re already designing merchandise for 2027 and its Adventure with Altitude theme. We will not be reordering 2026 merchandise. And those new 2027 bumper stickers? They are already available and being packed with all online orders.
Thanks to everyone who shopped with us. If you placed an order for free in-store pickup, you have 30 days from the time your order was ready to pick it up. We have quite a few orders waiting in our pickup closet. For those of you who ordered online, we’re working through those orders as quickly as possible. The team reports that we are about two days behind our normal next-day processing, but we expect to be caught up by the end of the week. Thanks for your patience.
One item already back in stock online and in the Gift Shop is the full 2025–26 Pin of the Month collection. Framed in a special calendar shadow box, it’s perfect for anyone who missed a pin or simply wants the complete set ready to display. And the 2026–27 Pin of the Month collection is already here. The first pin in the new series will be released on November 4 with that week’s What’s Up Wednesday.
Finally, a warm welcome to those of you reading What’s Up Wednesday for the first time. We hope you enjoy hearing about Balloon Fiesta, Balloon Fiesta Stuff, and ballooning in general throughout the year. Stay subscribed for special deals, sales, and insider information. We’ll do our best to make it worth your while.
Until next week, thanks for your support of Balloon Fiesta and Balloon Fiesta Stuff.