A “global helium shortage,” has forced Surrey Vaisakhi Parade, also one of the B.C.’s largest public events to abandon the use of helium balloons.
The Surrey Vaisakhi Parade, held on April 23, is the world’s largest non-Indian celebration of the Punjabi harvest festival of Vaisakhi and is expected to draw more than 300,000 people.
Last week, a statement from organizers asked businesses and attendees to respect the event’s new “no helium balloons” policy.
“Helium is listed as being classified under a ‘global shortage,’” it read.
Safety and environmental concerns are also driving the decision, explained spokeswoman Laura Ballance.
“We’re concerned with the potential disruption to the air traffic space above the event,” she said. “We’ve seen escalating numbers of balloons over the last few years, and in particular the last two years this has been an issue for us, so we’re being proactive.
“When you have large amounts of helium balloons given out, you have lots of young people who lose those balloons, and the result is tens of thousands of balloons end up in the airspace above the event over the course of the day.”
