Day 6 Festival of Balloons

Ok, I am back on time with this blog. Unfortunately the last one was slightly delayed due to very sore head. However a day to recover is always very welcome.

On the final day, the Grand Hall was opened to the public to view the balloon sculptures, competition pieces and pretty much everything that we have produced. The WBC has been featured on the news for the last three nights. Despite this Amanda Dolecheck (Pioneer PR guru) was somewhat anxious that her PR had been deficient and no-one would turn up. Pioneer had projected that maybe 1500 - 2000 people would turn out between the 11am start and 3pm finish.

This picture was taken at 2pm at the back of the entry queue. Estimated wait time of 50 minutes.

So it seems that most of Dallas turned out. Straw poll has the numbers at between 8,000 - 10,000 people turning up, with well over 5,000 balloons sold. It did not close until after 4.30pm and it was absolutely feral down there. Of course, it wasn't all bad......

I had an easy day, as previously mentioned. Watched Sam Stosur win the final of Family Circle Open in Charleston (?). Tonight all the teachers, Pioneer people and some distinguished guests had dinner at a local BBQ bar. It was a great way to unwind, and a great chance to actually stop and speak to the instructors that we had greeted as we ran past each other for the last four days. A nice relaxing night, but as usual didn't get to bed until after 1am. Some of you balloonies may recognise some of these people in the pictures below.....

That is pretty much it for coverage of World Balloon Convention. I have NSW and New Zealand training days coming up, where I will present a much fuller presentation of photos and some of the new designs. If anyone else wants this then speak to your BASA and/or Qualatex distributor.

It has been an awesome event and I have met some wonderful people from around this great big world we live in. I hope to see "y'all real' soon".

MAD Dave Taylor - in Dallas Texas!!