Blue Angels will perform at Vero Beach Air Show 2024 at airport this weekend
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels are coming back to town.
The elite team with the iconic blue-and-yellow F/A-18 Super Hornet jets will headline the 2024 Vero Beach Air Show this weekend at the Vero Beach Regional Airport.
The Blue Angels will perform Saturday and Sunday, but not Friday. Their performance times aren't disclosed to avoid traffic jams.
Winter visit: U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly into Vero Beach
They're joined this year by the U.S. Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II Demo team and an entertaining lineup of civilian acrobatic performers.
The Friday night show includes pyrotechnics and a fireworks display. On Saturday and Sunday, planes fly from noon to 4 p.m. Gates open at 9 a.m. both days for static displays on the ground, including the massive Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, as well as food vendors and children's activities.
The Blue Angels will begin to arrive on the Treasure Coast at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday with No. 7 flying into the Sun Jet Center at the Vero Beach airport. The rest of the team will arrive at 8:45 a.m. Thursday. These preshow arrivals aren't open to the public, but they make for good viewing.
In December, Blue Angels No. 7 Lt. Connor O'Donnell and No. 8 Lt. Cmdr. Brian Vaught flew into the Vero Beach airport for a quick winter visit ahead of an air show. That also wasn't open to the public, but people lined the fence by C.J. Cannon's restaurant to watch one of the jets arrive.
The Blue Angels started coming to the Vero Beach Air Show in 2014. They planned to return in 2016, but canceled after Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss was killed during practice in Tennessee. The Blue Angels returned for the 2018 show.
In 2020, the Vero Beach Air Show was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. It returned in 2022, with the Blue Angels as headliners once again.
This year's Vero Beach Air Show is two weeks before "The Blue Angels" movie is released in theaters on May 17.
2024 Vero Beach Air Show
When: 6-8:30 p.m. May 3 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 4-5
Where: Vero Beach Regional Airport, 3400 Cherokee Drive, Vero Beach
Cost: $25 general admission Friday, $50 general admission Saturday or Sunday, $20 for veterans and military Saturday or Sunday (free for ages 12 and younger, free parking)
Laurie K. Blandford is TCPalm's entertainment reporter dedicated to finding the best things to do on the Treasure Coast. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com. Sign up for her What To Do in 772 weekly newsletter at profile.tcpalm.com/newsletters/manage.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Blue Angels will perform at Vero Beach Air Show 2024 this weekend
