We have had an amazing time getting to know our UK customers better over the past few weeks. It wasn’t quite our first visit to the UK, but the last time we were there was for Spring Fair in 2020 and was a tentative step, just dipping our toes into a new market. This time we were there to make a splash!

We certainly did, with a fabulous stand decorated by Elari Events, workshops with our friends from NABAS, demonstrations by Gemar Master Vincenzo and lots of beautiful balloons to share. It was an amazing feeling to finally meet everyone in person and make so many new connections.

When the Fair drew to an end, we still had plenty to look forward to. The Blackpool Balloon Bash was a highlight of our calendar and a fabulous event. We have sponsored the Balloon Bash before, but this year we were thrilled to be able to attend in person, hosting workshops, running the jam room, and generally sharing our passion for balloon art.

We were disappointed that world events meant Irina Gvozdenko couldn’t join us as planned, but Gergő and Vincenzo did a great job running workshops in her place. The atmosphere was wonderful, so full of joyful energy, helped by the fact that almost everyone stayed at the hotel and we enjoyed sharing meals and socialising. Everyone impressed us with their creativity, beginners and professionals alike and we had 100% positive feedback from the participants. One person said that it was lovely to feel free to ask questions, and that they felt happy to speak up having met us already at Spring Fair. It just goes to show that the Gemar family really is a very warm and welcoming place!

We can’t wait to come back next year and it seems that everyone else felt the same way, tickets for 2023 have already sold out!

Even after all of that, we weren’t quite ready to go home and instead we set off on an epic trip – the first ever Gemar UK Roadshow. We spent five days touring the UK, visiting a different distributor each day to hold balloon art workshops, all with different themes. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet our distributors in person for the first time, to forge connections and spread the joy of balloons.

We visited some amazing places. We reunited with some of our Blackpool connections in Walsall, found ourselves surrounded by deer in Knebworth, and crossed the border to enjoy Scottish hospitality in Glasgow. Every single event was full of moments to remember, but the best memories are the comments we received. Things like:

“Everyone was so helpful. The staff were so generous with the balloons and so well prepared.”

and

“Everything was fantastic, instructions were clear, it ran at a good pace, the pack of balloons was fantastic. I really enjoyed it.”

Knowing that all of our wonderful new friends enjoyed the workshops so much is all the reward we could ask for!

After 981km, hundreds of participants and nearly 100,000 balloons, Gloria, Vincenzo, Gergő, Dominique, Clara and Grant were finally ready to return home for a well earned rest. Our thanks go to the whole team, and to everyone who worked so hard at all the different venues. You made this extraordinary adventure possible.

One thing is very clear – the party industry is an amazing community, with the passion and dedication for balloon art growing stronger every day. Who knows what extraordinary things we can achieve when we work to lift the moment together?

>> Pictures of the event <<