The Navy Blue Angels, Golden Knights, and multiple other performers are coming back for another full-throttle show!
The Chicago Air and Water Show will return this weekend to wow spectators lined up along North Avenue Beach and the Lakefront from Fullerton to Oak Street once again. Presented by the City of Chicago it is the largest free show of its kind in the entire country and features a variety of military and civilian performances.
On both Saturday, August 20th, and Sunday, August 21st, the Navy Blue Angels, the Golden Knights Army Parachute Team, and multiple other performers will take to the skies from 10 am until 2 pm. Free on both days, it will be the first full-scale Chicago Air and Water Show since 2019 following a full cancellation in 2020 and a scaled-back version featuring a solo demonstration by the Navy Blue Angels in 2021.
Second day of the #Chicago Air and Water Show – amazing to represent the #UK by displaying for hundreds of thousands of people lining the coastline and on the beach. Images by SAC Rose Buchanan and SAC Hannah Smoker. #RedArrowsTour pic.twitter.com/7XCSp81RZ5
— Red Arrows (@rafredarrows) August 18, 2019
“After the absence of the show in 2020 and a scaled-down version in 2021, this summer we are honored to be able to bring back in full force Chicago’s storied tradition, the Air and Water Show,” said the commissioner for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Event, Erin Harkeys in a news release.
This year’s military performances will include demonstrations from USN F-35C Lightening II, USAF F-22 Raptor, USAF C-17 Globemaster III, ANG A-10 Thunderbolt II (“Warthog”), ANG KC-135 Stratotanker, USMC V-22 Osprey Tiltrotor and the USCG Search and Rescue Helicopter team as per the Chicago Air & Water Show page on Chicago.gov.
“For the first time, the U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight and U.S. Navy Legacy Flights will be presented in the same Air and Water Show; a rare event for any air show” reads the official release.
The U.S. Navy has provided an additional F-35C Legacy II to its Legacy Flight as part of a “Missing Man” dedication to Rudy Malnati Jr., the late member of the famed pizza family who helped coordinate the shows in years past and was consequently made an honorary member of both the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds.
There will also be civilian performances from Susan Dacy, Bill Stein, Kevin Coleman, Rob Holland, Triple Time Team, the Fire Department Air/Sea Rescue team, and the Police Department helicopter.
More information can be found at chicago.gov/chicago_air_and_watershow.
[Featured image from Shutterstock]