Don't miss any of the Blue Angels Pensacola Beach Air Show. Here's a schedule breakdown
One of the busiest weekends on Pensacola Beach is quickly approaching. That's right, Red, White and Blues Week is here.
The Blue Angels Pensacola Beach Air Show kicks off Wednesday with "Breakfast with the Blues," which is used to give fans a first glimpse of the upcoming air show and the team a chance to mark the show's coordinates.
Things heat up on Thursday with a full practice show over Pensacola Beach. This is the perfect show for anyone who wants to watch the Blue Angels perform over our emerald green waters, but they don't want to deal with the hassle of bigger crowds.
Pensacola Beach Air Show: Heading to the Blue Angels Pensacola Beach Air Show this weekend? Here's everything to know
Friday brings a full dress rehearsal show. Unlike the Thursday practice, this show will feature all of the civilian aerobatic performances, plus the Blue Angels' performance. The dress rehearsal is essentially identical to Saturdays' main course.
Finally, the official Pensacola Beach Air Show will take place Saturday. This is what the whole week has been leading up to, and it's without a doubt the most packed day of the week.
Here's a day-by-day and hour-by-hour look at the upcoming Blue Angels Pensacola Beach Air Show schedule.
What time are the Blue Angels flying?
The Blue Angels will perform at 2 p.m. each day, with Fat Albert taking the spotlight for the first 15 minutes of the hour-long demonstration.
Pensacola Beach Air Show schedule Wednesday: Breakfast with the Blues
Everything begins on Wednesday with the "Breakfast with the Blues" event, where the Blue Angels will perform a series of maneuvers collectively called circle and arrival. This allows the team to get familiar with the airspace and mark the show's coordinates.
It allows fans to see the Blue Angels in action before the main show. The team won't be performing in the same capacity as they will during Thursday's full practice or the air show. And despite its name, there's no official breakfast, though you're more than welcome to grab a table at a local restaurant with a view or pack a beach picnic to enjoy while you watch.
Pensacola Beach Air Show schedule Thursday: Full practice
The Blue Angels will show off their full air show performance at 2 p.m. on Thursday. The practice is the best time to see the show if you're purely there to watch the Blues perform. It includes all the same maneuvers as the Friday and Saturday shows but without the civilian performers and the announcers.
The SRIA is requiring the public to suspend all flights of unmanned aircraft, or drones, during the air waiver hours of the Pensacola Beach Air Show. In addition, glass is always prohibited on the beach, and leashed dogs are only allowed at the two designated dog beaches on either side of the island.
Pensacola Beach Air Show schedule Friday: Dress rehearsal
Pensacola Beach Air Show dress rehearsal kicks off in earnest on Friday, July 12. The day starts with flight demonstrations and civilian aerobatic performances at noon, with the Blue Angels performing overhead at 2 p.m.
The full schedule (below) will be repeated on Saturday for the official show.
The Friday show is often as crowded as Saturday's show, with parking lots filled before the sun even comes up. To get the best spot on the sand, visitors are encouraged to arrive early.
Pensacola Beach Air Show schedule Saturday
Saturday marks the official Pensacola Beach Air Show, and follows exactly Friday’s dress rehearsal schedule. Prior to the official waivered air space closure signaling the start of the air show on Friday and Saturday, expect to see the following aircraft overhead, announced by radio personality Rob Williams:
Pilot Julian MacQueen flying his vintage 1943 Grumman Widgeon seaplane overhead.
Pilot Sheldon Heatherington will be flying his Zenith 75 STOL aircraft named Redbird.
Navy pilot Tanner Matheny will be flying over in his 1946 North American Navion airplane named Olivia.
U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue (SAR) demonstration from the back of a HH-60J Blackhawk helicopter.
Local wing of the Commemorative Air Force flying WWII and Korean War-era trainer and liaison aircraft.
At 11:45 a.m., spectators will be cleared from the Gulf waters and the official air space waiver begins.
Blue Angels Pensacola Beach Air Show 2024 minute-by-minute schedule
Noon: The show will begin with a presentation of the colors by the Red Bull Team parachutists jumping from Aaron Fitzgerald's helicopter over show center. The Red Bull Air Force team and Kevin Coleman will follow with a brief teaser of what's to come later in the show.
12:13 p.m.: The Veterans Flight team will immediately follow, soaring over the Gulf Coast in their bright yellow, vintage World War II-era biplanes and possibly other WWII vintage aircraft.
12:28: p.m. New to the air show, Carol Pilon and the Third Strike Wingwalking team will follow. Pilon is the first and only woman to ever walk on a jet-propelled aircraft. You can catch her wing walking on top of a bright red, vintage Stearman biplane.
12:39 p.m.: The Redline Aerobatic Team will take to the skies afterward where Ken Rieder, Adam Baker and Ken's son, Austin Reider, will make his inaugural debut at the air show.
12:54 p.m.: Hang onto your hat as pilot Skip Stewart wows the crowds next with his high-skill passes and jaw-dropping maneuvers from his famous red, white and black-checkered biplane, Prometheus. Don’t miss his signature inverted ribbon-cutting pass over the Pensacola Beach Pier.
1:06 p.m.: Patty Wagstaff, the first woman to win the title of U.S. National Aerobatic champion and a six-time member of the U.S. Aerobatic Team, will wow the crowds over Pensacola Beach in her Extra 330 aircraft. Her breathtaking performances give air show spectators a front-row seat view of the precision and complexity of hardcore aerobatics.
1:21 p.m.: The Red Bull Air Force Team with Kevin Coleman and Aaron Fitzgerald are back with a full act, creating a visual spectacle like no other. The trio will perform a joint aerial demonstration that will last 25 minutes.
2 p.m.: As always, closing out the show at 2 p.m. the Blue Angels will take to the skies. Look to the Gulf horizon as the famous C-130J aircraft, affectionately known as Fat Albert, followed by six signature blue and gold F-18 Super Hornets, make their way over Pensacola Beach.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola Beach Air Show schedule: An hour-by-hour look at the show
