The Abbotsford International Airshow returns this weekend for three days of fun and entertainment, including performances by the Breitling Jet Team and the Canadian debut of the Lockheed Martin F-35A joint strike fighter aircraft.
This year’s show is themed Heroes of the Skies and runs Friday to Sunday at Abbotsford International Airport.
Gates open at 3:30 p.m. Friday, with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds featured at 6 p.m. and a fireworks finale at 9:45 p.m.
The airshow runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the weekend, and highlights include more performances from the Snowbirds; the Canadian Forces Skyhawks; the Breitling Jet Team, the world’s largest professional civilian aerobatics team; the Screamin’ Sasquatch, a 1929 Taperwing Waco; Team Rocket Aerobatics; and much more.
There will also be dozens of static displays and a kids’ zone with inflatable toys, a bouncy castle, a climbing wall and aerospace presentations from Science World.
Also as part of the show, the Memory Project will have a booth. The project invites veterans and Canadian Forces members to share their military experiences with fellow Canadians through an online archive and speakers’ bureau.
The booth at the airshow will be attended by 97-year-old veteran and cartoonist Ernie Poignant on Saturday and combat veteran Jim Harris on Sunday.
Poignant was a member of the RCAF Flying Club when it opened at the Abbotsford Airport in 1943.
Harris manages the Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack Historical Society and does many talks at schools and libraries.
BC Transit is offering a special shuttle bus to get Abbotsford Airshow visitors to and from the event.
The Airshow Shuttle will run Friday evening and all day Saturday and Sunday from the Bourquin Exchange (located at Sevenoaks Shopping Centre) to Highstreet Mall and then to Abbotsford International Airport and back.
Friday service runs from 4:05 p.m. from Bourquin, with the last trip leaving the airport at 11:09 p.m.
On Saturday and Sunday, the first trip leaves Bourquin at 9:35 a.m. and the last leaves the airport at 6:05 p.m.
The Route 66 Fraser Valley Express will connect with the shuttle at Highstreet, adding one additional run on Friday night and Saturday morning.
The Friday night trip will leave Highstreet for Carvolth Exchange in Langley at 10:40 p.m. and leave Carvolth for Highstreet on Saturday morning at 9:15. (The 66 does not operate on Sundays.)
Regular fares apply. For more information, visit bctransit.com/central-fraser-valley.
Visit abbotsfordairshow.com to purchase tickets or for more information about the show. Tickets are also available at any Lower Mainland Save-On-Foods location.