Everyone's a Fiesta Fanatic!

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Today, Keep Albuquerque Beautiful and the Solid Waste Management Department hosted Fiesta Fanatics, an annual community clean up event held at Balloon Fiesta Park. Hundreds of volunteers arrived this morning to help clean up litter throughout the area in preparation for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta starting on October 5.

“Enhancing the beauty of our City as a community ahead of our biggest event of the year exemplifies what the Solid Waste Management Department aims to do every day,” said Solid Waste Management Department Director Billy Gallegos. “Our department and Keep Albuquerque Beautiful remain committed to creating opportunities for residents and City workers to come together as we work toward a cleaner and more beautiful Albuquerque.”

“When one resident takes action, it inspires others, and together, our collective efforts create a lasting impact,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “As we prepare for the biggest celebration of the year, families coming together to beautify our community is one of the best ways we can show pride in our City and share that spirit with visitors at Balloon Fiesta.”

The goal of this year’s event was to build pride within our City and help showcase the beauty of Albuquerque. To help accomplish that goal, Keep Albuquerque Beautiful partnered with the local non-profit organization, Imagine ABQ, who’s mission is to inspire people to join in a community effort to make Albuquerque shine. With both organizations working together, we were able to inspire individuals and groups to organize clean up efforts in their own neighborhoods.

“Today demonstrates the power of unity and the impact we can have when we come together to create a cleaner and more vibrant Albuquerque,” said David Meyers, AFR Chaplain and Founder of Imagine ABQ. “Imagine ABQ is forever grateful for Keep Albuquerque Beautiful and their partnership in our shared mission to transform and take pride in our community.”

Fiesta Fanatics is the first in a series of three fall events hosted by Keep Albuquerque Beautiful. For those who missed today’s event or would like to volunteer again, registration is now open for Dash for the Trash, a family friendly, competitive cleanup event in the Bosque on Saturday, October 12.