"Cougar Cooldown" breaks water balloon fight record - BYU News Skip to main content
Intellect

"Cougar Cooldown" breaks water balloon fight record

Brigham Young University broke the record for the world's largest water balloon fight Friday and produced plenty of smiles along the way.

With 3,927 participants and 120,021 balloons, the event unleashed a massive barrage of colorful cool for six minutes. It had taken students three days to fill that many balloons. A free lunch, music, and a blood drive added to the festival.

The previous record, held by the University of Kentucky, used 3,902 participants and more than 119,000 water balloons. BYU has to wait for official word from the Guinness Book of World Records, but event organizers say they are confident their record will be verified.

The BYU fight started at 12:20 p.m. and lasted about six minutes. Students were divided into two teams and given bags of about 30 balloons each.

Student volunteers started filling balloons Wednesday morning. In order to have enough balloons to break the record (120,021) some students worked all night long; some volunteers started at 9 a.m. on Thursday morning and stayed until the event concluded on Friday.

Organized by BYU Student and Academic Advisement Services, the balloon fight is just for fun, to add to the fun of summer term at BYU. Following the water balloon fight, students were served free lunch. More than 100 students had also signed up to be part of an American Red Cross blood drive.

During the water balloon fight, students from BYU's Ad Lab also filmed a music video, in conjunction with recording artist Kyle Andrews (and ad agency McCann Erickson). Andrews is in Provo shooting a music video for his song "You Always Make Me Smile." For information about BYU Ad Lab or the music video, contact Jeff Sheets at 801-422-3524.

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Three days, one song: BYU music students team up with Grammy winner Mark Lettieri to create new track

March 14, 2025
Imagine being tasked with writing a song in just three days, and then getting the chance to work alongside world-renowned guitarist Mark Lettieri. That was the incredible opportunity five BYU commercial music students.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU’s world-class pipe organ is the ‘crown jewel’ of the new Concert Hall

March 06, 2025
If you haven’t experienced the pipe organ in the BYU Music Building yet, you’re in for a treat. With 4,613 pipes and 81 ranks (sets of pipes), it’s the third largest organ in Utah and the only one with two consoles. Organists can play from a console located in the center of the pipework facade or from a movable stage console.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU study analyzes distant Kuiper Belt object with NASA's Hubble data

March 04, 2025
The researchers identify a possible rare triple system in the Kuiper Belt
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=