Ocean City will look to the skies this weekend as a full slate of aviation events returns Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19 and 20.
Air Show Weekend will include the Ocean City Airport Festival, a nighttime parachute pyrotechnic show and the Boardwalk Aerobatic Air Show. All three aviation events are free to attend.
Ocean City Airport Festival
The weekend begins with the Ocean City Airport Festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Ocean City Municipal Airport, 26th Street and Bay Avenue.
The festival will feature a ground display of unusual aircraft, including World War II planes, warbirds and classic airplanes. The event also will offer food vendors, music, vehicle displays and children’s activities.
Team Fastrax, known as “America’s Skydiving Team,” is scheduled to perform a parachute jump at noon, depending on wind and weather conditions. Boardwalk Merchants Association President Wes Kazmarck is expected to participate in a tandem jump with a Team Fastrax member.
A half-mile Runway Run/Walk will begin immediately after the jump, giving participants of all ages an opportunity to travel across ground normally used only by aircraft.
Children can participate in airplane and coloring contests from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The festival also will include face painting, helicopter rides available for purchase, city vehicle displays and appearances by Martin and Mollie Mollusk.
Additional parking will be available on Shelter Road, off Tennessee Avenue, with free shuttle service to the airport.
Parachute pyrotechnic show
Team Fastrax will return at 8 p.m. Saturday for a parachute pyrotechnic show over the beach and Boardwalk.
Specially licensed parachutists will exit an aircraft about 6,000 feet above Ocean City and ignite white and multicolored pyrotechnics as they fly in formation. The jump will conclude with a landing on the Seventh Street beach and will be visible from across the Boardwalk.
The Righteous Brothers also will perform with the Ocean City Pops at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Ocean City Music Pier. The season-finale concert will pause so attendees can watch the pyrotechnic parachute jump outside the Music Pier. Tickets are available at the box office, at oceancityvacation.com/boxoffice or by calling 609-399-6111.
Boardwalk Aerobatic Air Show
The Boardwalk Aerobatic Air Show will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday, bringing stunt pilots and aerobatic performers to the skies above the beach and Boardwalk.
The scheduled lineup includes Team Fastrax, Kevin Russo, the Jersey Jerks, Robert “Rooster” Schmidle and Dougherty Air Shows, among others.
The show is best viewed from the beach or Boardwalk between Fifth and 14th streets. Thousands of spectators typically attend as Ocean City marks one of the final weekends of the calendar summer.
There is no rain date for the aviation events. Performances may be delayed or canceled if weather conditions do not allow for safe flying.
