Building on the success of the first Skyfest Air Show in 2010, Skyfest Air Show 2012 is moving to a two-day extravaganza with more performances, trade booths, food vendors and other exciting activities set for Aug. 4 – 5.
“Everything is a go, we have the blessing of the city and everything is approved,” Skyfest organizer Barb Van Halderen said.
“Now the public and participants know what a great event this is, we’re expecting larger numbers of spectators and planning accordingly.”
She added there are performances each day including some of the same acts as last time, but also new exciting international acts.
Learning from the first Skyfest, Van Halderen said, they are planning sufficient food vendors, children’s activities and more static aircraft displays.
However, Van Halderen couldn’t stress enough how important and valuable volunteers and sponsors are to such an event.
“Some local businesses have already pledged their support and we’re looking for others to come on board as well,” she said.
“We’ve had an excellent response from the general public as well as business. Everywhere I go people are excited about the air show.”
Van Halderen spoke glowingly of the volunteers who committed their time to the first air show and how priceless their contribution was.
“With any large event, volunteers are critical to its success,” she said.
“The people who volunteered at the first air show were amazing and we would like to have them all back helping us again this year, but we need more. We need a larger number of volunteers to help make this two-day air show a smooth-running success.
“It’s our goal to ensure participants, volunteers and spectators have the best time at the air show this year.”
Some of the volunteer positions they’re looking to fill include staffing ticket booths, organizing parking, selling programs, providing security, general crowd control and a host of other duties, and of course taking some time to enjoy the performances.
There’s a volunteer meeting scheduled for May 12, at 1 p.m. in the old terminal building at the airport (watch for signs.) Van Halderen promises it will be quick, however they need to establish their volunteer roster and want to provide a brief outline of expectations.
“A phone call before to express your interest in helping would be great, but its also fine to just
show up at the meeting,” she said.
“Planning an event like this is critical to its success, as are the valued volunteers who give so generously of their time.”
For information on Skyfest 2012, call 250-249-5151.