The EmotionAir Ballon Museum is a unique immersive art experience, with a lot of mixed reviews and opinions on whether it is worth the price. Here’s my own Balloon Museum review after experiencing the one in San Francisco.

A Visit to EmotionAir Balloon Museum

The Ballon Museum we visited is located inside the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA. EmotionAir: Art You Can Feel is a surreal and immersive installation that transforms 75,000 square feet into a vibrant landscape of inflatable art.

Through September 7, 2025, visitors can explore a world designed to trigger both childlike wonder and deeper emotional resonance.

Originating from Lux Entertainment in Rome, EmotionAir is not your typical museum visit. It features more than 20 interactive installations crafted by 22 international artists, each designed to be touched, bounced off, or even rolled across.

The exhibits use over 200,000 inflatable components and are paired with custom soundscapes to heighten the emotional and sensory impact. Unlike static galleries, this one invites you to walk into the art—quite literally.

My Review of EmotionAir Ballon Museum

The place looked too neat to pass up, so I went with my 10-year-old son and husband during a recent trip to San Francisco. It is supposed to take about an hour and a half, but my son ran through it like it was some kind of marathon race.

I was impressed that it had more to it than I was expecting. We managed to make it last just over an hour, even with my attention-challenged child.

There are a lot of neat things to see and play with, and my son loved it all, but I wouldn’t recommend it for younger kids or those with sensory issues as it can be overwhelming.

There are loud noises, lots of flashing lights and lots of people. We were lucky when we went it was not that crowded. I don’t think it would have been enjoyable with more people. We went on a Friday at 12:15 and actually got in a little early because it wasn’t at capacity.

A few highlights inside the Balloon Museum:

Our favorite thing was the giant ball pit room where they also had some crazy images playing on the wall, and a big ball that came down from the ceiling. You get to stay in there for about 15 minutes, and when the show is done, you are allowed to stick around if you want more time.

The are a lot of giant inflatable things that you can crawl through, some that light up and some that don’t do anything.

The room with giant inflatable pink bunnies was a bit creepy, and I could see it giving some little kids nightmares. That one was appropriately titled: Somehow I Don’t Feel Comfortable.

The room filled with silver balloons was pretty cool. They were flying all around the room like a balloon tornado.

One of the rooms had a large inflatable ball covered in black spikes. Before going in, they tell you not to touch the walls and not to pull on the spikes. What they don’t tell you is that your hands will be totally black if you touch the ball!

The room is white, and those black spikes are what is scribbling all over the ceiling and walls, creating a constantly changing work of art.

There is a hand cleaning station set up right outside the room, but it’s some sort of cleaning goo and paper towels- no water! I couldn’t wait to get to the bathroom to really wash my hands. And of course, my son managed to cover his clothes with black handprints.

One of the rooms had tables with a colorful substance, and when you moved it around, the results were projected on the walls around you.

Another room had laser lights and tons of bubbles. My son had a lot of fun in that room. They give you booties to protect your shoes from the wet bubble covered ground.

There’s also a small installation that makes a really loud noise that produces big bubbles.

Is the Ballon Museum Worth the Price?

This is the question I kept wondering before buying my tickets, which are priced from $40 to $60 depending on the day, age group and type of ticket. Am I going to get my money’s worth?

They do offer family tickets, and our 2 adult, 1 child ticket came out to $110. I consider that to be pretty pricey for something that will take about an hour to go through.

I was also concerned it may be like the interactive King Tut exhibit, which was not very exciting and rather short.

In the end I decided, yes it was worth it, because we did get over an hour of fun and it’s located at the beautiful Palace of the Fine Arts, which is always neat to visit.

I would recommend going, especially if you are looking to entertain the kids for an hour or so. It’s fun for adults as well, because it encourages you to recapture some of that childlike wonder and get in and play with things.

EmotionAir Balloon Museum is located at Palace of Fine Arts, 3601 Lyon Str, San Francisco, CA 94123. Click here to get tickets on their website.

See the Ballon Museum in action on my Reel:

More About EmotionAir Balloon Museum

The EmotionAir exhibition, created by the internationally renowned Balloon Museum, has taken over the Palace of Fine Arts through September 7, 2025. This marks the first U.S. showing of the wildly popular European installation, where balloon-based immersive art invites visitors to dive into a world where play, emotion, and creativity take center stage.

Originally launched in Rome in 2020, the Balloon Museum has since captivated audiences across major European cities, from Paris to Madrid, with installations that blend technology, sculpture, and oversized inflatables.

Its signature mission is to create “art you can feel”—not just visually, but physically and emotionally. The EmotionAir tour is its most ambitious yet, and San Francisco is the lucky city to premiere its North American debut.

Spread across 75,000 square feet inside the Palace of Fine Arts, EmotionAir features 20 immersive rooms created by 22 international artists. Each space is designed to evoke a specific emotional response—whether it’s joy, curiosity, discomfort, or awe.

Unlike traditional museum exhibitions that ask viewers to stand back and observe, this one begs you to touch, bounce, play, and move.

Despite the inflatable theme, don’t expect party balloons and fragile décor. This is contemporary art in oversized form—cleverly designed for both interaction and introspection.

It’s a sensory playground, but with an undercurrent of thoughtful storytelling. Each room tells its own story through soundscapes, color, and form, encouraging visitors to reflect on their reactions as they move through the exhibit.

Timed-entry tickets help manage crowd flow, but once inside, guests can spend as much time as they like in each installation. While children are welcome, the experience is built with adults in mind—blending nostalgia and imagination with high-concept art.

The Balloon Museum’s EmotionAir is more than an art exhibit—it’s a full-body journey through emotion, movement, and wonder. For San Franciscans and tourists alike, it’s a rare chance to experience art not just with the eyes, but with the whole self.

If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind artistic adventure this summer, step into the surreal at the Palace of Fine Arts before EmotionAir floats away.