It’s all fun and games until the power line blows up. Foil balloons commonly festooned at celebratory events such as birthdays and graduations inadvertently cause thousands of power outages.

The New Orleans City Council on Thursday voted to ban foil balloon releases in an effort to curb electrical outages that have been linked to rogue balloons hitting power lines. The ordinance ...

The New Orleans City Council on Thursday moved to ban the release of balloons made of foil and other electrically conductive material, joining other cities and states in curbing a tradition that ...