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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Debbie Hall

West Lothian company to help create 'spectacular' balloon display in Orlando, Florida

A local balloon company will be reaching for the sky when they represent Scotland in creating a spectacular balloon display in Orlando Florida.

Balloon artists Janet and Bob Halliday of Artistic Balloon Decor have been selected to work alongside a team of balloon artists from around the world for the second time.

They will travel to the States this weekend to create their balloon masterpiece to raise money for charity Free@last which helps improve lives of critically ill children and young people.

In December last year they joined 55 balloon artists from around the globe in Birmingham to create five stage sets all made entirely from over 110,000 biodegradable natural latex balloons in just three-and-a half days.

They were tasked with setting the scene to dazzle audiences as part of Birmingham’s BMOS Musical Theatre Company’s production of The Nutcracker charity event

The incredible Nutcracker-themed Balloon Wonderland included a 30-foot fairytale castle, enchanted forest, ballroom, an eight-foot jack-in-a-box and 15 foot toy train.

This ambitious international collaboration was the third The Big Balloon Build brought together by founder Stuart Davies of Beyond Balloons in South Wales.

Janet said: “A couple of months ago we woke up to breaking news that we had again, been selected to join a team of some the most talented artists in the balloon industry to construct world-class interactive decor on a colossal scale!

“We are so excited to have been selected to be part of this wonderful experience and wave the flag for Scotland - a unique coming together of like minded balloon business owners giving their time without charge to make this dream come true.”

Balloon Wonderland will consist of a fantastical themed areas such as Dino Land, Toy land, the Enchanted Forest and Under the Sea in an area of nearly 30,000 sq ft, with displays towering as high as 24ft in height, created using 30,000 balloons.

And it will support critically ill children and their families from all over the world.

At the end of the build, it will be handed over to the Kids Charity ‘Give Kids the World‘ for several days of fundraising activities as it opens the doors to the public.

Bob added: “We will leave the week having worked hard, learned a lot, made new friends and given a huge charitable gift to a much deserving organization.

It’s our hope that in the near future the Big Balloon Build will come to Scotland which will be a delight for residents and visitors alike both young and not so young - raising thousands for local children’s charities.”

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