People searching for parade balloons usually mean one of two very different products. Getting the wrong one is expensive, so here is the distinction.
Three different products
**Walked character balloons** are the giant moulded shapes at big city parades, held by a team of handlers. They cost many thousands and take months. We do not build those.
**Cold-air inflatables** are custom shapes that stand on the ground on a blower — cows, mascots, monsters, product replicas, up to around 25 feet. **We do build these**, and for a street event they are often what people actually had in mind.
**Tethered helium balloons and blimps** fly on a single line from a fixed point, from a 4.5-foot sphere to a 30-foot blimp. We build these too, and they are the ones visible from streets away.
So two of the three are ours. Tell us what the event needs and we will say which.
Which one a street event actually needs
If your event is a small-town parade, a grand opening, a festival or a school celebration, a tethered blimp usually does the job better and for a fraction of the cost.
It flies at 120 feet, so it marks the location from streets away rather than only being visible to people already standing at the parade route. And it comes down, folds flat, and comes out again next year.
If you specifically need a moulded character walked down a street by a team, you need a specialist parade fabricator, not us.
Using one at an event
Setup is about ten minutes and one person after the first inflation. Net lift is about three pounds, so a sandbag or a tie-off holds it.
Indoors you need 15 feet of clear ceiling. Helium loss is about one percent a day, which means a single fill comfortably covers a three-day event.
Outdoors, the one rule: winds over 25 miles per hour forecast means bring it in. At a public event that is not just about losing the balloon.
Ask for a quote. Call 1-800-791-1445 or email [email protected] and tell us the size and whether you want it printed.
More at usblimps.com.