Helium shortage grounds fringe fest high-flyers

Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Saturday, Jul. 23, 2011

TORONTO'S Suspended Animation Circus was grounded at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival because it couldn't find enough helium to inflate its massive balloon over Old Market Square.

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TORONTO'S Suspended Animation Circus was grounded at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival because it couldn't find enough helium to inflate its massive balloon over Old Market Square.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/07/2011 (5501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO’S Suspended Animation Circus was grounded at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival because it couldn’t find enough helium to inflate its massive balloon over Old Market Square.

The high-flying troupe was booked to make its Winnipeg debut this week as one of the big outdoor draws at the festival, which wraps Sunday. There is a global shortage of helium — the world’s most commonly used inert gas — and none could be secured in Western Canada for Suspended Animation Circus’s balloon from which its daredevils perform aerobatics and ribbon routines.

Aside from inflating party balloons, helium is used by hospitals, where MRI scanners are cooled by the gas in liquid form and security authorities rely on it for radiation monitors.

“We were very disappointed,” says fest executive producer Chuck McEwen. “We are working for them to come next year.”