{"id":18914,"date":"2025-10-24T14:03:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/18914\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T14:03:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T14:03:10","slug":"will-blue-angels-show-up-florida-air-show-continues-despite-federal-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/18914\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Blue Angels show up? Florida air show continues despite federal shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blue Angels or no Blue Angels, the Florida International Air Show<\/a> is still happening.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to organizers of the popular annual event at Punta Gorda Airport.<\/p>\n

The air show is Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 1-2, but it\u2019s unclear if scheduled headliners the U.S. Navy Blue Angels will show up. Blame the ongoing shutdown of the U.S. government.<\/p>\n

Still, organizers have come up with a back-up plan, including newly booked acts on standby \u2014 ready to fly and keep the crowds thrilled and happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Air Show is a go!\u201d said air show president in an Oct. 23 news release. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to have incredible civilian performers like Randy Ball and Matt Younkin ready to join our already exciting lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be a fun, family-friendly weekend filled with aviation excitement, STEM exploration and community pride \u2014 no matter what happens in Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida International Air Show returns after 2024 cancelation\"The<\/p>\n

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels<\/p>\n

The 2025 air show follows the cancelation of last year\u2019s event due to hurricanes Helene and Milton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The annual event features flying antique military aircraft and demonstration teams, including popular attractions like the Blue Angels<\/a>, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and the U.S. Army Golden Knights.<\/p>\n

The 2023 air show broke records with almost 45,000 people attending, according to a 2024 news release. More than 22,700 people from outside Charlotte County attended, resulting in a $5.3 million economic impact for the area, it added.<\/p>\n

Both the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and Shaw Air Force Base\u2019s F-16 Viper Demo Team were scheduled to perform this year at the Punta Gorda Airport. The air show\u2019s board of directors has been monitoring the federal shutdown closely, according to the release.<\/p>\n

Spokesperson Steve Lineberry said organizers likely won\u2019t know about the Blue Angels and the F-16 Viper Demo Team until Thursday, Oct. 30 \u2014 just two days before the air show.<\/p>\n

Stunt pilots, jet fighters still planned for Florida International Air Show\"Demonstration<\/p>\n

Demonstration pilot Doug Litton in his German-built Extra 300-S<\/p>\n

To make sure the show can continue, air-show organizers have tentatively booked well-known civilian jet performer Randy Ball, who flies a Soviet Union-era MiG-17 jet fighter, along with veteran air show performer Matt Younkin and his twin-engine Beechcraft.<\/p>\n

Already scheduled civilian performers include aerial acrobatic team Warbird Thunder and stunt pilots Aarron Deliu and Doug Litton. The event also features static aircraft displays (such as the B-29 Bomber DOC) and the Innovator\u2019s STEM Pavilion, where kids can take part in hands-on science and technology exhibits and meet aviation innovators.<\/p>\n

For more tickets and more information, visit\u00a0floridaairshow.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 or email crunnells@gannett.com. Follow or message him on Facebook(@charles.runnells.7), Instagram (@crunnells1) and X (@CharlesRunnells).<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida International Air show continues without Blue Angels certainty<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blue Angels or no Blue Angels, the Florida International Air Show is still happening. That\u2019s according to organizers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15554,13907,28,30,15551,29,15552,15555,15550,15553],"class_list":{"0":"post-18914","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-air-show","9":"tag-blue-angels","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-florida-headlines","12":"tag-florida-international-air-show","13":"tag-florida-news","14":"tag-matt-younkin","15":"tag-organizers","16":"tag-punta-gorda-airport","17":"tag-randy-ball"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}