If you’ve ever taken a stroll through Old Sacramento, you have probably seen a balloon artist whipping up a colorful balloon animal for a kid.
To someone just walking by, it may seem that that’s all there is to it. Artists use pumps to fill the balloons, then, after a few quick twists, it’s a rose or a movie character. A kid reaches for it. The parents smile and the moment moves on.
In Old Sacramento, balloon art may look simple, but behind each balloon twist is a network of artists and decades of experience. The city has a community of shared commitment to a craft that’s far more serious than it looks.
Roy Ele sets up outside Joe’s Crab Shack’s doors. He has worked this spot for years. Ele watches customers come into the restaurant, scouts out for tables that haven’t ordered yet, and waits for the right moment to approach. Ele doesn’t wear clown makeup like some other local balloon artists that he knows. Instead, he talks calmly and comfortably, letting his balloon art do the rest.
“This isn’t for everybody,” Ele said. “We appreciate the fact that there’s a strong learning curve for it. And what I mean by that is, I’ve clearly done my 10,000 hours.”
Ele is 67 years old and has been a street performer since starting in San Francisco as a juggler decades ago, before balloon art became part of his routine. Today, balloon work is just one of several roles he balances.
He’s also a substitute teacher in Galt and has been a private math tutor for more than three decades. Moving between classrooms and street performing requires adaptability, he said.
“When you’re in front of students, you’re on,” he said. “You have to leave your shyness at the door.”
He says the skills he uses as a substitute teacher carry over into his balloon work. He approaches tables at Joe’s Crab Shack carefully, making sure children have permission from parents, and he’s deliberate about how he gives balloons away. The restaurant allows him to come in and pass out balloons to visiting customers. He works for voluntary tips. He said his relationship with the restaurant has been maintained by being respectful to their customers.
Ele starts his day at the riverfront restaurant, handing out a few free balloons to people, hoping they will attract some customers.
“Good behavior means that I am not going to give something away and then ask for a tip for it,” Ele said. “I’m accounting on those three items to generate the business.”
If you take a short walk down the riverfront, you’d run into Megan Murphy, who goes by Dilly Dally the Clown. She works the street in a different way than Ele. Murphy comes suited head-to-toe in her clown outfit. She wears big clown boots and white face paint as she moves through Old Sacramento. She uses her outgoing personality to greet families and bends down to children’s eye level while entertaining.
Attracting and keeping an audience takes more than just handing out balloons; she cracks jokes while putting together art for all her customers. Murphy has to use her quick wit to keep the energy playful and is deliberately over-the-top in her clown character.
“If it’s a Saturday or Sunday or a holiday and I really don’t have other stuff, I come hang out down here and twist my life away. This is more fun than anything,” she said, explaining why she keeps coming back to the streets.
Murphy attended a clown training program associated with Ringling Bros. before moving into street performance in Sacramento, where she trained in clowning and balloon work.
Megan Murphy, who goes by Dilly Dally the Clown, twists balloon animals for children while working the streets of Old Sacramento on Jan. 10, 2026. Murphy dresses in full clown attire as she walks through Old Sacramento.Tony Rodriguez/CapRadio
She juggles parties, private events and street work, often preparing hours in advance to be ready for a few hours on the street. On her waist, she carries her balloons organized by color and type. Murphy’s business depends on tips; her balloons cost around $3 to $8 dollars when she’s working in Old Sacramento. But she relies on people booking her for private events where she charges by the hour.
Both Ele and Murphy point to Vivian DeJesus, known as Grandma V, who helps keep Sacramento’s balloon artist community connected and running smoothly.
DeJesus has been twisting balloons for nearly three decades. Now in her 80s, she no longer regularly works the streets as a performer, but her influence is well known to Murphy and Ele.
“I’m 83 years old and I’m still going,” DeJesus said. “This is fun. It keeps me going. It keeps me learning new things, meeting new people.”
Vivian DeJesus, known in the balloon artist community as Grandma V, poses with balloons she made on Jan. 8, 2026. DeJesus, 83, has been twisting balloons for nearly three decades.Tony Rodriguez/CapRadio
DeJesus hosts regular “balloon jams” in Sacramento, informal meetups where balloon artists gather to trade techniques, business advice and stories from the job. She said it’s a space where secrets are shared and not guarded.
“You’ll always be learning new things,” she said. “The minds that are out there creating all of this, they truly are artists.”
Those gatherings also function as a support system. Balloon artists talk about safety, difficult clients, pricing, and the realities of making a living in a niche profession.
“I spend up to about $4,000 a year in balloon things,” DeJesus said. “You can’t just give away those balloons for free.”
Ele estimates he could continue well into his 70s if his health holds.
“I might be able to do it up to 75, 80 years old,” he said. “It’s a passion.”
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