The Vectren Dayton Air Show is one of the latest cultural events to be postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis. Organizers still haven’t found an alternate date.
Air show board member Michael Emoff says roughly half of the airshows that were expected to take place in the U.S. this summer have been postponed or cancelled.
“After we made that decision, we got an email a couple days later that all of the military jet teams were put on postponement until some point in July,” he says. “So, that would have affected us and it confirms that we made the right decision.”
Emoff says events like the Dayton Air Show can bring the community together during tough times but acknowledges even the rescheduled show won’t escape the pandemic’s influence.
“People are going to be cautious, they're still gonna go, they’re gonna be excited for it. And then there’s the optimistic outcome that says we're going to be craving it as the community and it's going to be attended to levels we’ve never seen before. If we have the right acts and the environment is right for that, we could have that.”
Organizers of the Vectren Dayton Air Show say the event will take place sometime in the fall — but it depends on the acts that are available. They’re still hoping for a major jet aerobatics act like the Blue Angels.