Internationally-renowned Surrey, B.C., balloon artist helps break world record
'There's an adrenaline rush you really can't explain,' says Kristal Yee
A woman from Surrey, B.C., has made it into the Guinness World Records for a very unique reason.
Kristal Yee was part of team of 50 international balloon artists who gathered in China to create a zoo entirely out of balloons.
The massive project included 135 different species of animals — from elephants to ants — in a variety of different habitats.
It took 200 people 11 days and nearly half a million balloons to make their vision a reality, and was completed last fall as part of the World Balloon Art Festival last fall — but the record was only confirmed a few days ago.
Yee recently took part in a World Balloon Convention in San Diego, where her team stayed up for over a day to build their creations.
"It was exhilarating and exhausting. So for the large competition we had up to 27 hours and we mostly stayed awake for the duration of that," she said.
"A couple of really short naps were taken but there's an adrenaline rush that you just really can't explain until you see all that work that has come around from that last year of planning and trying things out and practicing — and to see that all come to life is just another thing altogether really."
Balloon couture
Lee said she originally trained as an actor, but got into the world of professional ballooning through a friend who asked if she'd be interested in working with kids.
She first started painting faces, then making balloon animals, and eventually discovered the world of balloon conventions.
Yee also makes dresses out of balloons — which she's worn in real life.
"I'm always asked if you can get into them, and absolutely, we've got some techniques to get our models in and out of dresses," she said.
"Another question is whether you can sit in them and the answer is always yes. I've worn them and I've sat in them, I've danced in them, I've walked down the Vegas strip in them."
"They're really durable and they're super fun and they're a lot more elegant and classy than you'd think you'd make out of balloons, really."