Frequently Asked Questions

Out of Thin Air was born in 1997 on a San Francisco street corner, where founder Micha de Haan started folding balloon animals for tips. Nearly three decades later, he leads a collective of balloon art engineers across Europe — pioneering the fusion of balloons with LED technology and kinetic systems. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Micha approaches every project as a mood architect: engineering atmospheres with light, air and movement. The client list tells the story — Coachella, Booking.com, Thuishaven Amsterdam, Time Warp, Salesforce, Dubai Marina Mall. All materials are 100% natural latex, biodegradable and fully recycled after every event.

A balloon artist creates site-specific installations, sculptures and live performances that transform the atmosphere of an event. At Out of Thin Air, that means large-scale LED light installations, kinetic balloon systems, immersive environments and crowd acts — engineered for your space, your audience and your moment. We don't decorate. We change how a space feels.

Pricing varies by project type. A single decorative piece for a venue costs less than a multi-day festival production with LED technology and kinetic elements. To give you an idea: we work on everything from intimate corporate centerpieces to full-scale festival takeovers with multiple installations. The main factors are size, complexity, duration, and location. Send us your event details via our contact page and we’ll get back to you with a clear quote within 48 hours.

Kinetic Balloons© are robotised installations driven by DMX or ArtNet — the same control protocols used in professional stage lighting and theatre. Motors, mechanics and custom engineering make balloon sculptures move, float, rotate or pulse in sync with music or a choreographed show. These are not hand-built pieces: they’re engineered systems, programmed and operated like stage production. The result is a living installation that performs — not just decorates.

LED balloon art is a hands-on craft: each balloon is individually hand-tied with its own light source, then assembled modularly into sculptures, walls, canopies or spatial compositions. No control systems, no programming — pure artisanal construction. The magic is in the building: hundreds of glowing spheres combined into forms that transform a space through light, texture and scale.

For standard installations, 4–6 weeks is usually enough. For large-scale productions, custom kinetic builds or international projects, we recommend 2–6 months. The earlier you reach out, the more we can shape the concept together. Last-minute requests? Talk to us anyway — we’ll tell you honestly what’s possible.

Balloon art thrives wherever you want people to stop, look up, and feel something. In practice: venues with ceiling height of at least 3 metres, events with a minimum of a few hundred guests, and spaces where atmosphere is part of the experience — not just a backdrop. That covers music festivals, corporate launches, hotel lobbies, art events, and private celebrations. If you’re unsure whether your space qualifies, send us the floor plan and we’ll tell you honestly.

Yes. We’re based in Amsterdam but work throughout Europe and beyond. Recent projects include festivals in Germany (Stil Vor Talent Berlin, Tanzinsel), luxury events in Mykonos, installations in Dubai, and Coachella in the US. We handle all logistics including transport and on-site production.

Yes — festivals are our natural habitat. That said, we always start with a site assessment. Latex doesn’t love prolonged direct sun, so in hot conditions we limit installation time and position pieces to avoid full sun exposure. Wind above 40 km/h calls for solid anchoring and adjusted placement. We plan around the conditions — not against them.

With good planning and smart placement, an installation can hold up for weeks or even months. The key is avoiding direct sunshine — UV breaks down latex within days. We design and position accordingly. Indoors, longevity is rarely a concern at all.

Three things: First, our founder Micha de Haan has 25+ years of experience as a balloon art engineer — he approaches every project as a mood architect, not a decorator. Second, we develop our own LED and kinetic technology, creating effects no one else can. Third, our client list speaks for itself — from Coachella and Booking.com to GitHub and Thuishaven, we work with organizations that demand the extraordinary.

Balloon installations are inherently media-worthy — they’re the first thing guests photograph and share. We design every installation with shareability in mind. Our large-scale sculptures and LED-lit environments become visual landmarks that attract cameras, phones, and press coverage. We amplify your branding by translating logos, color palettes, and campaign themes into three-dimensional, immersive experiences that tower above the crowd. The result: your brand appears organically in hundreds of social media posts, stories, and event recaps — without paying for a single ad.

We take sustainability seriously. We use 100% natural latex balloons that are biodegradable — latex is harvested from rubber trees without harming them. We minimize waste by precise planning, reuse structural elements across events, and never release balloons into the air. Our LED technology is energy-efficient and our kinetic installations are designed to be dismantled and reused.

Yes. We carry full event liability insurance and provide a certificate upon request.

We can, but it’s not where we shine brightest. Our core is bespoke: LED installations, kinetic productions, immersive environments — experiences people remember. If you’re looking for the cheapest arch, we’re probably not your first call. That said, standard décor becomes something else entirely when it carries your brand. We combine classic balloon forms with printed balloons in sizes from 15cm to 250cm diameter — your logo, your colours, your campaign — at wholesale pricing. The result is décor that doesn’t just fill a space, it owns it. If you’re not sure which direction fits your event, just ask. We’ll tell you honestly.

That depends entirely on the scale of the installation — but we always make it work within your schedule. We scale our team to fit your timeline. Tell us when doors open and we work backwards from there.

It starts with a meeting — in person whenever possible. We want to understand your event, your space and your ambitions before we put anything on paper. If we don’t know the venue yet, that meeting happens on location. Either way, we don’t propose until we’ve looked each other in the eye. From there: concept, quote, production, build. You show up to a finished installation. We stay for the show, then take it all down afterwards.

Beyond installations, we run live crowd acts tailored to your event energy. Here’s what we bring: Master Blaster — Our signature crowd moment. A 3-metre balloon filled with confetti or mini-balloons, timed to burst on the beat drop. Deployable in up to 4 positions simultaneously. Face Blaster — Master Blaster with a soul. A giant glowing face — eyes, nose, mouth, all hand-built from balloons and LED — that grows more alive with every breath of air. Until it isn’t. Float of Thin Air — Illuminated balloon sculptures in procession through your crowd. Magical at dusk, unforgettable at night. Crowd Surfer — Oversized balloon sculptures that ride above the audience. Pure energy, pure spectacle. High Lines — Enormous LED-lit balloon chains and garlands sweeping high above the crowd. Architecture made of light and air. Floaters — LED balloon characters that move, dance and interact with your audience. Playful, surprising, always a hit. Spellbound — Giant illuminated letters spelling DJ names, brand names or custom messages. Available worldwide for corporate events; exclusively at Thuishaven for DJ shows in the Netherlands. Titans of Air — The giants of the parade. Balloon sculptures strapped to performers or mounted on stilts, towering above the crowd. Each one is a character: animals, mythical creatures, anything that catches the light and the imagination.Walkway into Heaven — A ladder disappearing into a cloud of balloons, with figures climbing upward. Poetic, visual, unforgettable. Stages of Air — Large-scale balloon installations that transform stages, trade show floors and shopping malls into immersive environments. Custom-designed to fit any venue or brand. Every act can be combined and is designed to create the kind of moment people film and share. See all acts →