My Party Princess is a dream to work with! They do a wonderful job at making the day magical for…read morethe littles (and i'm sure the preteens too) my 4 year olds princess party was so much fun, the staff was so helpful and sweet, we invited Rupunzel to the party and i highly recommend adding a princess to your party, it was so cute. The pizza package worked out wonderful for my crew, all in all an amazingl stress free party, Thanks Melissa!

I just had my daughter's 6th birthday party and was extremely satisfied with all that My Party…read morePrincess did! We had the royal treatment and my birthday girl felt so special getting her hair done! They took care of the entertainment, the snacks, decorations, cake...literally everything! All that I had to do was take pictures (and pay) All of the girls who came to the party had so much fun! I highly recommend!

Smarty Pants was fantastic at our recent event AND each and every time I've seen him perform over…read morethe years - which is many times (because many people see how amazing he is)!! It's not just his talent with super fun and surprising balloon characters but his adaptive nature and outstanding personality, engaging everyone at the parties/events. I would absolutely recommend him for all types of occasions : private or big birthday parties, festivals, block parties, - anywhere there will be children!! He is one less thing at your party you need to worry about because he is a sure thing! Truly, he is a whole family favorite!!

What a fun performer. I came across him at the Park Ridge Kiwanis annual pancake breakfast, where…read morehe was doing some entertaining mostly for the kids but definitely for the adults as well. It's through him that I heard of the Central Street Busker Festival that took place the next day and his line was loooong! Most recently, we went to his show last week that the Mt. Prospect Public Library held for spring break. That was very very well attended, with a long line of folks waiting to get in (and that's with all of us registered to attend!), but the show was a lot of fun. He did a little magic, a little comedy, and some fun balloon tricks. This guy has been doing this all his adult life--unless that's also a joke and part of his act--but regardless, he's great at his job. I'm looking forward to seeing him again and my little one having the chance to pick her balloon creation on her own.

So I only found out about this amazing business cuz Hawthorn Mall had an event to meet Belle. This…read moreprincess came right out of the movie! She was so in character and was great with the kids Her royal helper was great too! I loved how magical everything felt! Hoping to hire Mulan or Raya for my daughter's birthday this weekend! Can't wait!

From the owner: Local Fairytale Celebrations character bookings in the Lake in the Hills and surrounding areas!read more

Jessica was great! She came to our grand opening at our fish store! She was on time and in costume!…read moreAll the kids were so excited to see Ariel and get their face painted. She was very professional and did a great job! If we are ever in the market for a face painter we will be giving Jessica a call!

Dreamcatcher Entertainment helped with my younger cousins birthday party. Jessica was quick,…read moreprofessional and extremely flexible with our needs for the party. She did a surprise Snow Queen appearance that left the kids talking hours after she left. Highly recommend!

This was one of the most special events we could ever have hoped for. My dinosaur obsessed daughter…read morewas beaming the entire time, and so was I. Brian and the dinosaur handler were both so great with the kids, and we got so many compliments from parents. I am glad that we made the investment this year as the memories will last a lifetime.

Chicago Dinosaur MADE my dinosaur obsessed daughter's 6th birthday party. She was so excited and…read morethey didn't disappoint! The "dinosaurs" are not cheesy - totally top notch and realistic. Brian the owner was so nice and a breeze to work with. Great with kids. Totally got into the character. All the parents and kids said it was such a memorable day. Highly recommend!

I'm sure I've hit a world record for character rentals. I know lots of options when it comes to…read morefind Spiderman, Elsa and other princesses. However, this year my kids challenged me with wanting the following characters at their bday parties: one of the My Little Ponies, Pikachu (Pokemon) and Elmo. While I had to go elsewhere to find the pony (probably the most challenging of the requests), Blazing Birthdays was one of the few character rental companies that had both Pikachu and Elmo. I was most impressed with their communication. Their managing director, Scarlett, was super helpful on the phone and followed up with a very detailed email after our initial phone call. After hearing a bit about my parties we decided on 1 1/2 hours for Pikachu (30 min of Pikachu followed by an hour of balloon twisting) for 25ish five year olds. And then 1 hour of Elmo (30 min of Elmo followed by 30 min of balloon twisting) for 25ish two year olds. I received a call from the characters the night before both parties, which is a first in my many years of character rentals. I could tell by their voicemails alone that they were going to great...and I was right. Colman was Pikachu and ran around our party screeching "pika pika"- the kids absolutely loved playing with him. After 30 min of playing pikachu disappeared and Colman appeared ready to twist a lot of balloons, mostly swords for this crowd of 4 and 5 year old boys. He was also really great w/ the kids and had no problem getting their attention. Catherine was Elmo. She ran into some traffic issues so was a few min late to the party, but texted to let me know and was very apologetic so it was no big deal. I was a little afraid of how such little ones (one and two year olds) would react to Elmo, but she was super sweet with them and they loved her. She (or he) gave a bunch of hugs, posed for pictures and even danced around for them while they ate. And then after Elmo helped my son blow out the candles she reappeared for some balloon twisting. Half the crowd disappeared at this point to make it home for nap time, but the ones who stuck around really enjoyed the balloons...especially my 7 yr old who took advantage and probably had 5 balloons made for just herself. There are a lot of options when it comes to character rentals, but Blazing Birthdays is the first one I would call next time. Professional, reliable and priced fairly as well. Thank you Pikachu and Elmo for making my boys birthdays extra special!

We rented out the Elmo Character for my daughters first Birthday. Prices are not listed on the…read morewebsite but if you call the number (I believe her name is Lynn) is almost always available to answer questions and give information. She's very friendly and nice. The open communication is great. They offer a wide variety of services from characters to magicians, clowns, face paint and balloon artists. Elmo was wonderful. He was on time and not in a rush to leave when his hour was up. He was really great with the kids. We played games like limbo and sang interactive songs. Elmo read books to the kids and posed for pictures. The energy level was great and all the guests left happy.

Don't recommend! Communicating with them is horrible. They booked me down for the wrong day so I…read morehad to track them down the day of my event. Told me they could only do a 30 min show instead of the 1hr I had booked them for. Definitely messed with my event schedule. Stressful and worst experience I've ever had.

Always able to help. On time, fun and very nice costumes. Keep up the good work. As an owner of…read moreanother company in the area, I need to say that Edgar and his staff are always awesome! We are always counting on them.

We booked Ms. Rachel and it was a terrible experience. I was beyond disappointed. The character…read morethat showed up barely talked she did not talk to any of the children and did not smile. She didn't say "hi" when she arrived: she looked scared to be there. She played a "game" with the kids by taking out a flamingo and telling one kid to hide it and asked me to help her talk to the children. The kids couldn't hear her because she was speaking so low. When it was time to "face paint" she stood there helpless until my sister in law asked her if she needed something and she said she didn't have warm water. But I wonder if she hadn't asked would she have attempted to try. The only time she seemed enthusiastic and talked was when she was going and it was time to ask for her money. I am truly disappointed and feel it was such a waste of money.

We recently booked a princess appearance with Characters IO for my daughter's birthday, and while…read morethere were some positive aspects to the experience, there were also disappointments that are worth sharing for others considering this company. To start with the positives: the princess looked fantastic and looked exactly like the character she was portraying. She brought a couple of books and coloring supplies, which the kids enjoyed doing alongside her, and she danced with the girls in a circle. However, one of the reasons we booked with this company was that the initial booking emails highlighted that the princess could provide simple face painting. Unfortunately, when she arrived, she did not bring any face paint. This was especially disappointing as face painting was my daughter's top request. During the event, the princess was fairly passive and required prompting--such as being asked to join in the singing during the cake cutting--rather than taking initiative during key moments. After the party, I followed up with the company to express my disappointment and to better understand what went wrong. They responded that face painting is not guaranteed per their terms and conditions. I explained that this was not clearly communicated and asked what I should have done differently--whether I should have confirmed in advance that our specific princess could provide face painting. Despite sending seven emails and five follow-up texts, I never received a clear response or guidance on this. So while the appearance was visually impressive, the lack of clear communication and follow-through on a key feature left us frustrated. If face painting is a priority for your event, I would recommend confirming it very clearly in advance--or booking with another company that can guarantee it.

We hired Around The Town Entertainment for a Santa Meet & Greet in December, and it was truly the…read morebest experience! The booking process was smooth, the pricing was great, and communication was quick, clear, and very friendly. From the moment Santa arrived, he was kind, funny, respectful, and absolutely wonderful with both kids and adults. Everyone had an amazing time, and the joy he brought to our event was unforgettable. We couldn't have asked for a better experience and would highly recommend Around The Town Entertainment to anyone looking to create a magical event. We will definitely be booking again!

I highly recommend Around the Town Entertainment. I've asked around different vendors here at Yelp…read moreand they have the best options, best price and they are also very responsive. They have different magicians/performers and you can choose at different prices and the kind of performance they can do. We have David perform for my 6-yr old son's birthday party and everyone was entertained both adult and children. After the magic performance, he did the balloon twisting and the kids loved it! He went above and beyond for the party. I will totally use them again for any kids party.