The BAPIA Fun Day was held at Grand Station, Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands, UK, on 7^th June. It’s a local venue to Greetings House and situated in the centre of the UK. The event attracted around 80 BAPIA members, balloon artists and designers most relatively new to the industry. Many had travelled long distances, some as far as Scotland, London & Portsmouth.

BAPIA is the leading trade organisation for the UK’s Balloon and Party Industry, having more than 1,700 members. BAPIA work with leading balloon training providers, to ensure that their members are aware of all latest balloon products, skills, techniques & design trends.

The format of the day was based around Networking & Education. Delegates were treated to several presentations and classes, which included learning new balloon skills, basic dried flower arranging skills and tips on running a balloon business. There was also a very good presentation on how they could improve their marketing and promotion techniques, through all of relevant social media and direct marketing channels.

Greetings House was represented by Mark Drury, John-Paul Banbury, Richard Turnbull, Scott Hansell & Hayley Kean. The team presented Gemar balloons and also provided hands-on experience during the day, encouraging delegates to complete a part-prepared hoop based on Irina Gvozdenko’s design, which Vincenzo Musto delivered during the Gemar Roadshow UK event, at Greetings House, earlier this year.

On the day we engaged the services of two professional and well-respected balloon artists, Helen Clayton of Cheeky Gorgeous Events and Kez Wheatley of Kez’s Balloons. Both were brilliant and can be seen interacting with delegates on the pictures taken during the day. Both Helen & Kez had attended the Gemar Roadshow event at Greetings House, so they were well placed to discuss, answer questions and instruct delegates on many of the skills required to build the piece.

The display was completed beautifully under the girls’ guidance.