HOLIDAYS TAKE FLIGHT
and new exhibition opening - 'Art of the Airship'
December 6, 2009
11 am - 4 pm     FREE Admission

• Photos with Balloon Pilot Santa
• Explore the "decked out" halls and galleries of the Museum" and experience the new exhibition 'ART OF THE AIRSHIP'
• Arts, crafts, face-painting, balloon-shaped cookie decorating, and balloon hats
• Live seasonal music
• Shop for holiday gifts at the Museum Shoppe
• Lucky Paws pet adoption
• Bring a gift for Toys for Tots

SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

Fun and Games in Ballooning 

READY FOR SOME REAL FUN?  You don’t have to own a balloon -- or even to be a crew member -- to have a great time with balloons! Get ready to learn all about “Fun and Games in Ballooning” at the Balloon Museum’s newest exhibition.

You say you don’t understand the physics of ballooning? Don’t worry about it! We will show you many pleasurable ways to be “puzzled by ballooning” with a wide variety of balloon-themed jigsaw puzzles on display and hands-on puzzle interactives. You can “bank on having fun” in our gallery when you discover the different lighter than air craft which have been transformed into banks to help you save up for your next trip to a major rally. Get “all wound up” taking in a selection of artifacts from the Museum’s mechanical toy collection, and then settle down to some “fun at the keyboard” by perusing balloon-themed sheet music. You can even hear vintage recordings of old-time favorites including the 1905 “Come, take a trip in my air-ship.”

Items in exhibition displays will include a 1929 Erector Set zeppelin; antique sand pails with lighter-than-air images; first-edition novels; vintage ascent certificates for balloon

Children of War, Voices for Peace: Japanese and American Perspectives  

This exhibition complements the Balloon Museum's ongoing display of Fugos -- balloon bombs deployed by the Japanese during World War II as part of their war effort. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a series of illustrations of the process of making the balloon bombs, coupled with historic photographs.

The book, Ohkuno Island: Story of the Student Brigade," was written and illustrated by Reiko Okada from a child's perspective. The author-artist had participated in making the balloons when she was a high school student. Okada wrote the book after learning that the had contributed to making devices which killed children and adults in the United States. Her book is dedicated to peace and prayer for all who lost their lives through the atrocities of war.

The exhibition also features information on the censorship of information about the bombs' arrival to the North American continent on the jet stream. The role of popular culture in educating about the dangers of the balloons is also illustrated. War-time comic strip icons "Smilin' Jack" and "Tim Tyler" and even Smokey Bear helped in the effort.

A Fiesta Patchwork: Images Through Time

Posters, bumper stickers, programs and other colorful items connect visual images and stories about artists, ballooning pioneers and the ballooning fraternity that capture the magic of Balloon Fiesta over the past 36 years.

Las Nubes de La Palma/Clouds of La Palma:
Clouds, Weather and Ballooning

The exhibition features some 100 striking photographs of clouds above La Palma, an island in Spain’s Canary Islands. The formations are very unusual and create fascinating images. Visitors will be surprised at the number of similarities between these clouds that formed halfway across the world and those in our own area.

Visitors will also learn about the important role balloons have played in predicting weather, and how ballooning activities are influenced by the weather.

A large area has been set aside for fun hands-on activities. Here you can learn about “lift” with a wind machine; create your own tornado; start a weather journal; and hold instruments and learn how they are used.

Art of the Airship

Opening December 6, 2009