Oct. 6, 2026 Community Hall Newsletter

Fall is officially here, Albuquerque,

September is always a special time in our city. The weather starts to cool, our neighborhoods come alive, and you can feel the excitement building as we get ready to welcome the world for Balloon Fiesta. This month gave us plenty of reasons to come together, celebrate our community, and take pride in the place we call home.

We continued creating more places for young people to belong this month. Since expanding Teen Memberships at our community centers, participation among teens ages 12 to 18 has grown by 480 percent, with more than 3,000 teens now signed up to play sports, spend time with friends, participate in programs, and connect with opportunities in their own neighborhoods. Our Youth & Family Services Summer Programs were also voted Best Summer Program in the Albuquerque Journal's Readers' Choice Awards after serving thousands of kids across Albuquerque this summer.

September also showed what can happen when Albuquerque rolls up its sleeves. Residents, community organizations, and City employees joined Fiesta Fanatics, Imagine ABQ Day, and the One ABQ Fall Clean Up to clean parks, neighborhoods, and public spaces as we prepare to welcome visitors for Balloon Fiesta. At Balloon Fiesta Park, a colorful new public art mural, Billow Outside the Box, is also ready to welcome visitors, bringing the work of local artist Molly Mendenhall to one of our city's most recognizable gathering places.

We invested in places and projects that will serve Albuquerque well beyond this fall. We broke ground on the first of a new group of solar projects at City facilities, moving Albuquerque closer to powering municipal operations with renewable energy. At the ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden, we also broke ground on Dreamlands: Exploring a Mythical World, a reimagining of the beloved Children's Fantasy Garden shaped by more than 1,500 responses from families and children. And local entrepreneurs connected with funding, training, and business support through the Small Business Resource Fair, bringing more than 40 organizations together to help Albuquerque businesses grow.

There were plenty of opportunities to gather and celebrate too. During Recovery Month, the Albuquerque Celebrates Recovery Art Show filled the Wheels Museum with artwork created by people in recovery, celebrating resilience and the many paths people take toward rebuilding their lives. And the Rio Grande Rivalry brought some friendly competition back to New Mexico, with Las Cruces Mayor Eric Enriquez and me continuing our annual wager ahead of the Lobos and Aggies matchup.

This month also marked 25 years since September 11, 2001. Albuquerque firefighters completed the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, climbing 110 stories in honor of those lost, before our community gathered at Civic Plaza to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost that day and the first responders and service members who made the ultimate sacrifice. Twenty-five years later, their courage and service remain something we will never forget.

From young people finding a place to belong to neighbors cleaning up their communities, artists sharing their stories, and Albuquerque getting ready to welcome visitors from around the world, September reminded us how much pride people have in this city.

And now, it's time to look up. Balloon Fiesta is here.

Here's to another month of progress, pride, and connection,

Mayor Tim Keller

This month, Mayor Tim Keller highlighted:

• Expanded Hours at the Balloon Museum
• Plaza de los Recuerdos (Old Town Dia De Los Muertos Days)