The old town is preparing for the crowds of the balloon fiesta

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Soon hundreds of balloons will be taking to the skies as thousands upon thousands of tourists fill our streets.

Many of these tourists will eventually take a trip to Old Town Albuquerque. But it's a neighborhood that has faced some problems recently. For example, vandalism, a burned down business and increasing security costs for entrepreneurs.

That's why KOB 4 traveled to Old Town to find out how some businesses are preparing for the busiest time of the year.

“I mean, my only worry is if I forgot, like, some syrup or like, printer paper,” said Rodolfo Rivera, general manager of Outpost 1706.

The bar at Outpost 1706 is well stocked and ready for the big crowds at the balloon fiesta.

“We are excited. I mean, we’ve been preparing for this since mid-August,” Rivera said.

Rivera says the upstairs bar typically serves around 100 thirsty patrons on a normal day, but the numbers go up during Balloon Fiesta.

It's the same story down at Happy Hiker.

“It’s probably well over 100 an hour. So yes, we see at least 10 times as many people,” said Camp Dozier, owner of Happy Hiker.

Dozier says they learned some important lessons about these balloon fiesta tourists last year.

“They think of Albuquerque as the desert. They don’t realize how cold it is at four in the morning,” Dozier said. “So this year we have an overstock of gloves, an overstock of hats and then a few shirts.”

Unlike last year, Rivera and Dozier know there is some unease in Old Town right now.

“What happens to one company happens to all of us. Other than that, this tragic event has kind of brought us all together,” Rivera said.

“This is no stranger to us either. Our door was broken twice,” Dozier said. “It’s never fun when something like this happens, but we’ve gone from two to three incidents a month to maybe one.”

Both say additional patrols by Albuquerque police and Bernalillo County officers are making a difference.

“It’s allowed us to relax a little bit and not always have to worry about what’s going on here and there,” Rivera said.

For all tourists who are worried about current headlines like these.

“Something like that happened, always at night, you know, when no one was here. If there are people here in Old Town and someone causes a problem, the response is quick,” Dozier said.

So for now.

“We’re prepared, we’re ready to go,” Rivera said.

“Just a lot of excitement,” Dozier said.

In addition to the additional patrols, Albuquerque police also deployed additional crime-fighting technology in Old Town, including mobile cameras, license plate readers and gunshot detection microphones.

People KOB 4 spoke to were quick to point out that the Old Town is so busy during the Balloon Fiesta that it's rare for criminals to get away with vandalism or anything similar.