TL;DR: The Ultimate Date Night at The Balloon Museum
Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll find in this adventure through The Balloon Museum: Let’s Play at Pullman Yards:
- 🎈 Journey Through Art: Explore unique installations where balloons aren’t just decor but a medium for magical experiences.
- 👫 Connect and Play: Rediscover the joy of play and connection in a space designed to bring out your inner child alongside your partner.
- 🌌 Space and Time Adventure: Travel through other dimensions with exhibits that challenge reality and spark deep conversations.
- 🎨 Interactive Creativity: Engage directly with art in a way that’s not just seen but felt, making memories that stick.
- 🍴 Dine and Unwind: Enjoy food trucks and drinks at Pullman Yards, perfect for discussing your shared experience.
Art exhibit dates are some of the best dates; The Balloon Museum: Let’s Play at Pullman Yards is no exception—you and your boo will travel through space and time, relive your childhood, and open your minds to new perspectives, with only a balloon!
Introduction
Balloons. You may imagine them brightly colored and scattered at a party with children gathering around a cake, candles dancing, a chorus of “Happy Birthday” bouncing off the walls—slightly off key. Or, perhaps you picture a bouquet of gold and cream, a little silver tossed in, various sizes assorted like an arch as a woman, belly round and swollen with new life walks through with her partner in tow. If you’re searching for a possible date night with bae, you may picture a giant red one, shaped like a heart or a flower or even a teddy bear, Happy Valentines Day or I Love You written elaborately across the surface as you pass the string to your partner.
From rising thousands of feet into the sky as hot air keeps you climbing, to the loud POP as a pin pierces the fragile exterior, balloons evoke so many feelings and pictures that it’s nearly impossible to dream of them all…until the Balloon Museum: Let’s Fly at Pullman Yards! This exhibit gathers a unique collection of artists each utilizing the seemingly innocent image of a balloon to remind the viewer to trust one another, to show that magic is actually possible, and take you on a journey into another dimension.
What is the Balloon Museum?
Born in 2020 in Rome, Italy, the Balloon Museum combines a variety of artists each who explore the ways others can experience art, making it both inspiring and interactive. Let’s Fly at Pullman Yards features 18 different artists who use balloons to take their viewers on a journey through their own minds. Unlike other exhibits that only invite others to look, the Balloon Museum encourages visitors to look, listen, touch, jump in, and play. You and your partner will wander from room to room, sometimes alone, other times with larger groups. The exhibit has already been featured in multiple cities across Western Europe and in NYC! Atlanta is the second location in North America. This exhibit opened February 17 and will run until April 14, 2024.
The Balloon Museum is located at Pullman Yards, 224 Rogers St NE in Atlanta (30317). While Pullman Yards isn’t within walking distance to other prime locations, they do feature a few food trucks and other eateries for you and your boo to enjoy, if you get hungry. Oh, and some of those set ups feature alcoholic drinks!
A weekend date night will run the more expensive set of tickets at $44 for adults. If you happen to combine date night with family night, kids tickets are $33 each or you can purchase a Family Ticket (2 adults, 2 kids) for $35. Tickets are cheaper during the week at $39, $29, and $31 respectively. Oh, and if you choose to park at Pullman Yards, go ahead and download the ParkMobile app—the app is free, but parking will run you about $20. There are some free lots around if you don’t mind walking. Still, plan to spend between $50 – $80 per person.
The Experience
Your date really begins the moment you find your line for entry, bold primary colors greeting you as well as two of the featured pieces: Eye Scream and Octopus Attack. As your digital ticket is scanned and you enter the building, you’ll be asked to place thin coverings over your shoes before you walk into the first mind-bending art piece…
…and we don’t want to spoil your experience! Without giving too much away, the Balloon Museum will give you both stand-still moments, silent except for the sound that echoes off the walls, caught by the flashes of light into dark. Other rooms may have you reaching for each other as a sliver of uncertainty runs down your spines. And several rooms will have you both laughing, feeling as if you’re children without worries or fears or responsibilities. The most viral room, the one we’re sure you have seen in video clips across social media, is Hyperstellar. And yes, this is the ball pit. Only, this room is a lot more than a large pit of black balls…just wait and see.
Most pieces are designed to be interactive, like ADA with its black writings that are only created the more you push and move the giant balloon around in the room. Or The GINJOS which takes Socker Boppers to an entirely new, life size level!
Pros
- Experience is about 60-90 minutes depending on your personal pace and how long you interact in each room.
- Paid parking at the site.
- Free parking around the site.
- Coat checks before entrance.
- Food trucks and other eateries at the end of the exhibit, alcoholic beverages included.
- There are places to sit at the end of the experience.
Cons
- Assuming you elect paid parking and choose the weekend date night, by the time you pay for the admission and parking, you’re spending about $65 per person without even factoring in the drive, food, or drinks.
- If you are not a fan of crowds or children on your date night, this may not be an ideal date for you (see tips and Recommendations for more!)
- If you are triggered by flashing lights and sounds, this is not an ideal date for you.
Tips and Recommendations
- Wear comfortable shoes—the entire experience is on foot.
- Wear comfortable clothing as one of the rooms involves black ink and another is literally a giant ball pit.
- Several of the rooms are in dark spaces; be careful when walking as some of the surfaces are slippery or uneven.
- You may elect to go during the week when the larger crowds will be in school/at work. If you choose to go on the weekend, you can make it a morning date or a late evening.
- If you choose to make date night a family night, this is a great experience for your kids!
- Try and locate free or cheaper parking around Pullman Yards; you may have to walk a bit farther, but your wallet will thank you!
Final Verdict
This is a must for those looking for a date that will inspire deep conversation and infectious laughter. If you’re on the first date, the Balloon Museum will help you both learn more about each other. If you’re old pros at this dating thing, this outing can lead to reconnection or just serve as a great end to an otherwise stressful or uneventful week.
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
- This date is just plain FUN! What other opportunities will you both have to write on the walls, jump into a giant ball pit, and wander through a virtual reality all on the same date? Don’t miss this interactive experience before it leaves Atlanta!
