A Day in the Life of a Balloon Master

Although the atmosphere is quite noisy with the hustle and bustle of the Fair, this is our studio, our playground of sorts. We bend and twist and shape and form until – “ta-da” – our creature is complete.

We are artists of a very different breed. We don’t make our sculptures out of clay or stone or even butter like those other State Fairs, but instead we are Balloon Masters. We contort our creations from just air and rubber – but what we create is quite spectacular.

Old Macdonald’s Farm may not have been as lightweight as ours but we sure do have the animals. Here a pig, there a donkey, everywhere an inflatable creature.

You’ll E-I-E-I-Ooh & Aah at our bright green and yellow inflatable tractor as well as our not-so-wet duck pond and our barnyard backdrop, complete with a rooster nesting in the hay. We’re not exactly sure what will come next in our life-like farm, but you can find out as the days pass on.

“If I were a sheep, where would I fit?”

Day by day, as the space begins to shrink, we determine just what comes next in our scene. We’ll improvise a honeycomb swarmed by bees and then a pair of pigs sitting in a mud pile. Every once in a while, a fairgoer requests their favorite farm friend and we try to add it to our list.

Taking a break between our sheep and silo we teach the youngsters who’ve gathered around how to make a balloon animal of their own. The excitement on their faces grows as their thin, colorful balloon turns into a puppy with every twist and turn we show them. They walk off, their chests puffed up as they carry their creation around the Fair – they’ve gotten a taste of the artistry!

No matter what animal or creation we choose to contort next, it’s sure to be unique! And it’s sure to use a whole bunch of balloons! By the time this barnyard scene is complete – we’ll have used over 15,000 balloons – now that’s a lot of hot air!