We’re back in the Windy City already for another spectacular event. In fact, as events go in this country, you won’t find one bigger.
The Chicago Air & Water Show is the oldest and largest show of its kind in the nation, and at well over 2 million live attendees, it is one of the largest spectator events in the world. Aerial acrobatics, death defying parachute maneuvers, water ski tricks that even the Fonze wouldn’t risk – the show is a tribute to spectacle.
The spectacle comes from humble beginnings, but it’s been a hit since year one. The first event took place in 1959 as part of a local summer camp’s “Family Day”. The operating budget was only $88. Regardless, it struck a nerve, and the next year the Air Force Thunderbirds and Golden Knights Parachute team joined the show, garnering a massive crowd. Just two years in, a summer air and water show in Chicago was de facto tradition.
Rousing the locals is one thing. If you want to attract an audience of 2-3 million, you’ve got to blow people away. Ever year, they do just that.
Find yourself a grandstand seat at North Avenue Beach (arrive early for choice seating) or find your own cozy hangout just about anywhere along the lakefront. Montrose Harbor offers a great vantage point. At 10:00 AM, the action starts, and it won’t let up until the end.
This year’s feature performers include daredevil stunt pilot Sean Tucker of Team Oracle, famous for his deep catalog of unmatched maneuvers. The Lima Lima flyers will show off their precise formation work. Air Force Reserve member Ed Hamill performs a narrative journey through the history of flight shows. The Navy Leap Frogs get a different kind of air with an exciting parachute routine.
The show is far from over. Still to come are the annual favorites and show regulars since 1960: the Thunderbirds and the Golden Knights. The Thunderbirds are the official air demonstration squadron of the U.S. Air Force, an elite team on par with any in the world. Their pulse-pounding performance always awes the crowd. The Golden Knights is the nickname for the Army Parachute Team, another incredible unit operating at the top of the discipline. It’s formation jumping at its finest.
All this is joined by gnarly waterfront entertainment (this is the air and water show after all). Water skiing, speed boating, jet ski acrobatics – they do it all.
The 2009 Chicago Air & Water Show takes place August 15-16 over Lake Michigan in Chicago. Grandstand seating is available at North Avenue Beach, though the event is easily viewable virtually anywhere along the coast. Seating is admission-free. Unless you just can’t get enough, plan to attend only one day, as the events are the same both days. Learn more.
For hotels in Chicago, we’re fans of the Hilton Garden Inn Chicago – Magnificent Mile. The location is choice for any number of Chicago vacations, including this one, and you won’t find a better value on the Magnificent Mile.
Have fun!
Related Posts
No related posts.
Loading ...
2 Comments
I love air and water shows. They used to have it every year in Fort Lauderdale but they stopped it last year.
It was the biggest waste of time. I was highly disappointed. Why wasn’t the Blue Angels there? They are the only part of the show worth it. I hate watching the Thunderbirds. Plus being they took out the helicopters and then felt they needed to combined the water and air show it was a over all failure. There was not enough of the advertisement. I used to enjoy seeing the red baron pizza people and the all out army places. This year the goarmy had one tent. How lame. Plus they were so far off the only reason we knew they were these was because we had to go search for food. They had no giveaways of any sort and the performance turned out to be terrible. My party and myself were asleep through most of it because it was dragged out so long. It took forever to change between the planes and jets, plus all of the cool aircraft’s were not featured. The water show was a joke because you can’t even see most of it from the location and mind you i was right at the front. No one was paying any attention because no one knew it started. They need to NOT combined the two shows this time and keep it apart. BRING BACK THE BLUE ANGELS. That is my only reason to go. That and the black helicopters that hovered over the water. The ones that almost seemed like you could swim too them? I loved those and i haven’t seen them since i was in the 7th grade. I am a jr in college now. This year was highly disappointing and if it wasn’t a tradition for my party and I, I would not attend again.
One Trackback
[...] here: Chicago Air & Water Show 2009 – August 15-16 | USA Travel Guide July 13th, 2009 at 4:54 [...]