A record 17 hot air balloons lifted off from Storm Mountain Park on Saturday, Aug. 8, after high winds cut short Friday morning's launch at the 19th Annual Sandy City Balloon Festival.

Cooperative winds greeted pilots at sunrise Saturday, sending the largest fleet in the festival's history over Sandy's south-side neighborhoods and toward Dimple Dell Recreation Center, where spectators watched balloons drift into an open field. Among the fleet: special-shape balloons including an owl, a black sheep and "Joelly the Bee," piloted by Michael Glen, the world's first paraplegic hot air balloon pilot.

Glen, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident at age 21, earned his balloon pilot license roughly a decade after the crash, according to NBC News. He returned to Sandy's festival for a second consecutive year.

"Just because I am in a wheelchair, does not make a difference," Glen told NBC News in August 2023. "This is a dual chariot. It works perfect for me."

Sandy City community events manager Katie Atkinson had previewed the record fleet in an Aug. 3 PBS Utah interview, calling the 17-balloon lineup "the most balloons we've ever launched." She said Glen has "quite the special story and the hurdles that he's had to jump through" to become a pilot.

Friday's launch at Storm Mountain Park, 980 East 11400 South, began with crews inflating envelopes, but high winds forced the effort to stop. At least one balloon, Heather Watkins' "Pebbles," was forced to land in a residential neighborhood after conditions deteriorated, the Deseret News reported.

Saturday told a different story. Pilots gathered for a pre-flight briefing while brothers Blake and Luke DeMartini watched a piball, a small weather balloon released to measure wind speed and direction at altitude, float skyward. Curt Bramble, pilot of the Stars and Stripes balloon, pointed to the sky as crews finalized preparations.

Meghann Hyde and her children Alice, 6, and Liam, 8, lay on their backs watching balloons pass overhead. Near Dimple Dell Recreation Center, Doug Kelly and Timna Fischbein watched the Chick-fil-A balloon touch down from a Harley-Davidson motorcycle parked at the field's edge.

The free, two-day event also featured live music, food trucks, tethered rides lifting spectators 50 to 80 feet and free latex balloons for children. Saturday evening's Balloon Glow at Sandy City Promenade, 10000 South Centennial Parkway, ran from 7 to 10:30 p.m., with pilots firing burners to illuminate grounded envelopes.

Sandy's community events calendar is available at sandy.utah.gov. A drone show closed the night around 10 p.m., sending patterns across the sky above the promenade.