LOCAL magician, children’s entertainer, and balloon modelling extraordinaire Dave Hickory is celebrating after he was announced as one of the winners of the ninth annual Blackpool Balloon Bash.
The event brings balloon twisters from across the world into the same room to discuss tips, and hold lectures, as well as running competitions to see who is the most creative in each of the three timed categories. Dave competed alongside 170 other competitors, including some from Germany, Italy, and America, and he was crowned winner in the five-minute category after his balloon koala caught the attention of the judges.
“I love this event so much – it’s great that I won the prize, but I was just happy to be there and enjoy the day among peers if I’m honest,” said Dave. “I was awarded £600 worth of balloons and a bag to store the balloons in which is just lovely. I received some really nice compliments on the day as well and it is just such a positive event as you get to see just how creative people can be!
“The first thing we did was the big build, and for my involvement, I built a large strongman that you could actually stand behind and put your head on like those old sea-side postcards which was great fun to do. The big build took the best part of a day to complete and the end result looks fantastic.
“We started the competitions in the evening and there were three categories: five minutes, 30 minutes, and iron-man latex – the latter this year being a competition where you start working on a build for a set time until the judges tell you to take a step back and finish someone else’s build.
“My build in the five-minute category was good enough to win and it was a koala that was inspired by Longleat. What was lovely is that people were coming up to me as I was putting it together and saying, ‘You’ve got this Dave’, which was really nice to hear as it’s not often you get to compete against your peers and get feedback such as that.
“For the 30-minute category I made a working carousel complete with dogs that actually rotated which ended up being quite hair-raising as I was using a new type of twist and one of the balloons popped and I only just managed to get everything together in time.
“The iron-man latex competition was the most difficult challenge as it changes slightly each year. You’re given 30 minutes again for this and you have to build whatever is in the envelope and you must use every balloon in the bag. I started work on a massive heart balloon and they decided ten minutes in to ask everyone to move two spaces to the left and finish off whatever was in front of you in the remaining time, which threw a spanner in the works!”
Dave says he has already booked his place for next year’s Balloon Bash and has already settled on a design.
If you would like to book Dave for any parties, weddings/functions, fairs or fetes, you can get in contact with him on 07746 248427 or by email on dave@davehickory.co.uk
His website can be found at www.davehickory.co.uk
