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After a COVID-related hiatus, the “Thunder Over Dover” air show at Dover Air Force Base returns this year.
The air show will be at the base for Armed Forces Weekend Saturday May 21 and Sunday May 22.
It will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Air Force.
The Thunderbirds, the Air Force’s official air demonstration team, will perform along with the Blue Angels, the Navy’s flight demonstration squadron.
The event will also feature other demonstrations with various planes and helicopters representing most of the nation’s Armed Forces branches.
And Air Show Director Lt. Col. Dave Caswell says all Armed Forces branches will be represented in some way.
"And we have equipment and men and women from each of the main five services: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard,” said Caswell. “We have something that we're planning for all of that so really excited to make this a comprehensive kind of DOD all-encompassing show."
This is the first major event at Dover Air Force Base the public can attend since the start of the pandemic in 2020. And Lt. Col. Caswel says that gives it special meaning.
"We had a show scheduled for 2021 and that one was canceled to COVID unfortunately, and the last time we had an air show was about 2019,” said Caswell. “So it's been a few years and people have been at home kind of sheltered, isolated away from other human beings and this is kind of our time to get folks out, get the community and the base together to have a wonderful event that really is all about community outreach."
The weekend will also showcase a STEM fair for kids, which will include arts activities.
The air show is free, but premium seating is available online at the event's website.