Winners of the sculpture, decor and twisting competitions held at the bi-annual Qualatex World Balloon Convention, the balloon industry’s premier international event, were announced at the event, which took place last week in San Diego from 14 – 18 March, 2018.
The trade event encompasses four days of professional training – with classes covering techniques, trends and business management – as well as international balloon art competitions and a number of lively parties.
“It was my privilege to be part of the judging panel again this WBC,” said Sue Bowler CBA, leading Qualatex Instructor and writer of ‘The Very Best Balloon Blog’. “The quality of the competitor’s work was outstanding. Each WBC, you cannot believe that the previous achievements can be bettered, but they are, everytime.”
The coveted and hard-won competition winners were announced during the Grand Gala on the final day.
Deliverable Sculpture & Bouquet Competition winners
1st place, Kanako Takahashi, from Japan
2nd place, Su Yun Chang, from Taiwan
3rd place, Emi Natsume, from Japan
Picture Frame Competition winners
1st place, Koichiro Kai, from Japan
2nd place, Lucia Sampietro, CBA, from Italy
3rd place, Nicolas Fiault, CBA, from France
Centerpiece Competition winners
1st place, Masako Nomura, CBA, from Japan
2nd place, Barbara Rosatelli, CBA, from Italy
3rd place, Lee Yann Pau, from Malaysia
Balloon Figure Competition winners
1st place, Takehiro Kai, from Japan
2nd place, Hiroshi Miyasaka, CBA, from Japan
3rd place, Alessandro Patanè, CBA, from Italy
Balloon Column Competition winners
1st place, Surama Alberta Di Pasquale, CBA, from Italy
2nd place, Kun Lung Ho from Taiwan
3rd place, Andrea Popo Papolino, CBA, from Italy
Fashion & Costume Competition winners
1st place, Daigo Sugata from Japan
2nd place, San Yan Hung from Hong Kong
3rd place, Kanako Takahashi from Japan
Balloon Hat Competition winners
1st place, Hitomi Nakayama, CBA, from Japan
2nd place, Shizuka Nagaoka, CBA, from Japan
3rd place, Daigo Sugata, from Japan
Medium Sculpture Competition winners
1st place, Kun Lung Ho from Taiwan
2nd place, Hiroshi Miyasaka, CBA, from Japan
3rd place, Kanako Takahashi from Japan
Large Sculpture Competition winners
1st place, Kun Lung Ho from Taiwan
2nd place, Vadim Shushkanov, CBA, from the Russian Federation
3rd place, Connie Iden-Monds, CBA, from the USA
The Twisting Wizard Award goes to Daigo Sugata from Japan.
The Emerging Artist Award goes to Kanako Takahashi from Japan.
The Golden Light Award goes to LaDonna Belcher, CBA, from USA.
The Master Designer Award goes to Masako Nomura, CBA, from Japan.
Full details and images of entries, with all the winners in each category will be shown on www.worldballoonconvention.com shortly.
Above, from left to right: Winner of the Large Sculpture Category (Kun Lung Ho), Winner of the Fashion and Costume Category (Daigo Sugata from Japan, who was also awarded the Twisting Wizard award) and Winner of the Balloon Hat Category (Hitomi Nakayama CBA).
