Balloon Man John soars in new calling

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This article was published 23/07/2015 (3170 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For many people, playing with balloons is an easy way to briefly entertain children for a few minutes, but for a man who makes a living as a balloon artist, it’s a detailed process that brings nothing but smiles to children’s faces.

Balloon Man John—whose real name is John Kowaluk—began making balloon art as a hobby.

“Before I retired, we had our first grandchild,” said Kowaluk. “That would be like 10 or 11 years ago. I was working as a nuclear firefighter in Pinawa. So, we had some free time working 12-hour nightshifts, so I started twisting balloons to entertain the grandchildren.”

ADRIANA MINGO | THE CARILLON
John Kowaluk began making balloons as a hobby to entertain his grandchildren. Today, he attends over 20 events a year making balloon art for children across southeastern Manitoba as Balloon Man John.
ADRIANA MINGO | THE CARILLON John Kowaluk began making balloons as a hobby to entertain his grandchildren. Today, he attends over 20 events a year making balloon art for children across southeastern Manitoba as Balloon Man John.

After five years of twisting as a hobby, Kowaluk retired and business inadvertently took off.

“When I retired, we moved to Saskatchewan for a while. In Rosetown, I was in the Lions Club there. They needed someone to entertain people at their little fair in October and I said ‘I could do that!’ Then all of a sudden, people in the surrounding area started hiring us,” he said.

Kowaluk and his wife Cathleen have since settled in Landmark—a residence that brings them not only closer to their family, but to all the festivals and rodeos a balloon entertainer could dream of.

Kowaluk said last year he entertained at about 10 different places, adding most people hired him through word of mouth.

This year, Kowaluk has doubled his engagements to more than 20—some of which have already booked him for next year.

“When I was with the Lions Club in Saskatchewan, they had to hire a balloon twister from Saskatoon and he wanted $575 for two hours. So, me being kind of silly, I said ‘I can do it for $150 for half a day!’ and that’s what I did,” said Kowaluk. “So I guess that’s our basic rate—it’s what I set five years ago. Of course there’s a few [changes to the pricing] now, but we’re still maybe—from what I can find out—a third of the cost from [people in] Winnipeg. And we’re right there.”

Kowaluk said some of the smaller festivals in further away towns cannot afford someone from Winnipeg. So, he’s been entertaining at smaller events because he’s in a more central location and charges far less.

He’s plied his trade at fairs in Blumenort, Mitchell and Dominion City already this summer.

The balloons Kowaluk uses aren’t cheap, nor are they sold nearby. He prefers to use a special type that can only be ordered from Toronto or Calgary, and he goes through quite a few of them in a year.

“We go through about 5,000 to 6,000 balloons a year,” he said. “That’s a lot of twisting.”

Kowaluk said he can make 50 to 60 different types of balloon art—from flowers to animals to dinosaurs, bracelets and hats. Some take 30 seconds to make, while others take several minutes and require more than one balloon. He said he continually tries to come up with new art, most of which comes from reworking existing designs.

There’s a science to balloon art not everyone realizes.

“When we leave our home—an air conditioned place—soon as the temperature changes, the balloons change and I need to readjust to the heat,” said Kowaluk. “When it’s 30 degrees, all of a sudden the balloons start popping. So this year we invested in a pop-up canopy to protect everything. It’s still a learning process.”

Fairs and rodeos are the biggest events Balloon Man John entertains at. He also does birthday parties, but he said often those fall on weekends when he’s already at some sort of festival.

Kowaluk said he rarely takes breaks and prefers to work longer than an hour or two. This isn’t purely a business decision, he said he does it so the kids can keep coming back for as much art as they want, as long as they keep lining up.

“Part of the enjoyment for us is the look on the kids’ faces. Sometimes a child will be standing there and I’ll think I forgot about him or her. I’ll say ‘did I miss you?’ and they’ll say ‘no, I’m just watching,’ said Kowaluk. “In Vita, there was a little boy in the tree and he sat there watching for about two hours.”

Kowaluk’s wife Cathleen assists her husband in organizing the children and making sure they form a line while waiting. Sometimes she even dresses up as “Princess Cathleen.”

Kowaluk plans to continue being a balloon artist for at least another five years or as he jokes “until the arthritis sets in.”

Search for Balloon Man John on Facebook for inquiries and pictures of his balloon art.

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