Balloons Around The World Day

What the day is

Balloons Around the World Day is observed on October 7. It is a working holiday for balloon artists, who mark it with public twisting, decorating and charitable events.

Origin and background

The rubber balloon was not invented as a toy. In 1824, Michael Faraday made the first ones at the Royal Institution in London as apparatus for experiments with hydrogen, cutting two sheets of rubber, pressing the edges together and dusting the inside with flour so the surfaces would not stick. He noted that the inflated bags rose with remarkable force.

Toy versions followed almost immediately, sold as kits of rubber to be inflated at home. The modern balloon dates from the 1930s, when latex production made cheap, durable, brightly colored balloons possible in quantity, including the long thin shapes that balloon twisting depends on.

Twisting itself is a genuine craft with its own vocabulary of basic twists, and the competitive and professional end of it produces sculptures the size of rooms.

There is an environmental caveat that the day increasingly acknowledges. Released balloons come down somewhere, and both latex and foil varieties are a documented hazard to seabirds, turtles and livestock, with ribbon causing entanglement. Latex is biodegradable but takes months to years, not days. Mass balloon releases have been restricted or banned in a growing number of places, and many balloon professionals now campaign against them, since the practice damages the reputation of their own trade.

How to take part

• Learn a basic twist or two. A single balloon and ten minutes of instruction will get you an animal of some description.
• Never release balloons outdoors. Weight them, and pop and bin them when finished.
• Choose latex over foil where you can, and cut ribbons short.
• Book a balloon artist for a children's event rather than buying more decorations.
• Keep uninflated balloons away from small children, since they are a serious choking hazard.