Air show returns to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst after five long years of waiting
The Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Power in the Pines air show will return this weekend after a five-year hiatus. Gates open at 9 am both Saturday, May 20, and Sunday, May 21, with the opening ceremony starting at 11:25 a.m. each day.
The show will kick off with a performance by the U.S. Army Parachute Team, also known as the Golden Knights. It will feature members of the New Jersey Army National Guard, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army and Massachusetts National Guard, who will be flying a variety of planes including tankers, transports and airlift aircrafts.
It will also feature demonstrations of the Air Force F-16 Viper Demo Team, as well as pilots Rick Volker, Patrick McAlee and the Warbird Thunder team, who all specialize in competitive aerobatics. Multiple aircraft and military vehicles will be on display on the ground, some of which you will be free to climb in.
The theme this year is “On the Wings of Community.”
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The event is free and open to the public. Visitors are advised to enter in through the McGuire Gate, the Route 88 Gate or the Langlois Gate.
The military base, which typically hosts an air show every two years, cancelled its 2020 show as the COVID pandemic started and the 2022 show, citing the demands of its missions at the time. Its last airshow was in 2018.
The event will end at 4 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
Further information can be found by calling the Public Affairs Office at 609-754-2104 or by email at 87.abw.pa@us.af.mil.
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Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst 2023 air show returns after hiatus
