The trend: At parties all around town, from the Heart Ball to the Aviary, aerialists are flying high.

Why: "Aerialists lend a multi-dimensional component to an event and also add a touch of the 'wow factor' that everyone wants to deliver to guests," says Desiree Wienand, director of development at the National Aviary. "Plus, aerialists fly ... a lot like our birds!"

Tracy Gray, public relations manager at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, agrees. "Our guests and visitors really enjoyed the performances. It is new, different and an attention-grabber."

What it's like to fly through the sky: Kristin Garbarino, aerialist and Verve360 aerial yoga instructor, says: "It feels incredible to perform aerial. It's been empowering to gain the strength to manipulate the silks. I do get scared sometimes when I'm trying something new. I recently started my own aerial and modern movement company, Bombyx Collective. For the last Gallery Crawl, we did a piece about the parasitic wasp in which the silks were used to represent transition."

First Published: August 4, 2014, 4:00 a.m.