ST. GEORGE – An all-star lineup, headlined by the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, drew thousands of spectators to the 2014 Thunder Over Utah Air Show. Officials estimate approximately 32,000 people attended the show held at St. George Municipal Airport over three days during the weekend of July 25-27.

“We are happy that the community came out to support the show this year even with the show taking place in the middle of the July heat,” said Kevin Walsh, air show director. “Spectators, performers, community leaders, sponsors, media partners, and volunteers all came together to make the show a success.”

Despite temperatures pushing 110 degrees at the airport throughout the weekend, threat of thunderstorms each day, and high winds at times, the show went on as scheduled each day. The show’s traffic management plan worked well this year and show operations were reported to run smoothly throughout the weekend.

“Our hats are off to the airport, safety forces and city officials for the updates they made to the traffic patterns and their work on site throughout the weekend,” Walsh said. “The traffic plan worked as expected getting people in and out. We were able to clear the parking lots on Saturday slightly more than 30 minutes from the time the Blue Angels stepped out of their planes and Sunday within twenty minutes.”

“We will do a full show debrief in the next few weeks and review what worked well and what we can improve,” Walsh said.

While the Blue Angels indicated their support for a show in St. George, a determination of a future show date is pending.

Ticket sales from the show benefited several community organizations including the United Way Dixie, Young Eagles, Dixie JROTC, Rotary, Western Sky Warbirds Museum and the Yankee Air Museum.