BRUNSWICK — The Great State of Maine Air Show is returning for the first time since getting grounded by federal budget cuts, and advance ticket sales indicate it’s going to be a big draw from across the region.
The company hired to run the event is projecting that as many as 90,000 people will pay to watch aerial performers during the two-day event this weekend. The show will feature the Navy’s flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels, along with an Air Force F-22 Raptor and several civilian flying acts at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station.
“When you have the lineup that we have and the good weather, I think it’s going to be a spectacular weekend,” said Rob Reider, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based air show announcer for the event.
Putting on an air show when Brunswick Naval Air Station was an active-duty base was relatively easy: Taxpayers picked up the tab, and the Navy provided hundreds of sailors to run the event. Back then, the event was free to the public.
That changed when the base was shut down by a base-closing commission. The air shows continued in 2011 and 2012 with an admission fee but they were a drain on the civilian Mid Coast Regional Redevelopment Authority, which organized the shows those years.
For the air show Saturday and Sunday, the redevelopment authority has hired a company to run the massive event. The Air Show Network is selling tickets, hiring vendors, securing hotel rooms and rental cars, procuring portable toilets and working with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Steve Levesque, executive director of the redevelopment authority, said he’s happy to have someone else sweat the details, but the event remains an opportunity to showcase the former base, now called Brunswick Landing.
Four years since the base closed, Brunswick Landing is home to 75 businesses that have created 730 jobs, and Brunswick Executive Airport.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.