It's an event that takes more than a year to put together and as it gets closer, the excitement level is building.

To celebrate the Royal Canadian Air Force's 100th anniversary next year, Southport will be bringing back the ever-popular airshow on August long weekend. The director of business development at Southport is Deanna Talbot and she says people can now purchase their tickets for the event.

"We want to keep the energy rolling. They're the perfect stocking stuffer and are available online. It is early bird pricing so we encourage people to get them now and get excited. It's hard to imagine August when you're looking outside and seeing the snow, but our committee has been meeting since this past summer and we're starting to ramp up now. In the new year, we'll be announcing the complete list of all the performers."

Events like this in the past have attracted thousands of people from all across the region and Talbot adds that Southport is excited to finally be able to do one again. In 2020 they were ready to go but that event had to be called off because of restrictions that were in place. This means there hasn't been one since 2018.

"It will be the first one in 6 years and the only one in the province next year.  The work is very rewarding and the logistics that need to go in to make an event of this magnitude happen does take over a year of planning. To see the excitement in the people's eyes that weekend will make us know all the hard work leading up to it was totally worth it. We're continuously looking for sponsors, volunteers, and food vendors and we're adding a car show this time to go along with everything else."

Southport has a rich history of military flight training and has hosted several air shows over the years, the first being in 1995. The area was originally Canadian Forces Base Portage la Prairie which was established in 1940 as a training base for military pilots. That training continues on the site today with KF Aerospace Defence Programs.

 

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