AirFest brings Thunderbirds, vintage aircraft to skies over Tampa

TAMPA — The Tampa Bay AirFest returned to fill the skies over Tampa with performances by the Thunderbirds, vintage aircraft and military planes that aviation fans welcomed to MacDill Air Force Base on Friday.

For the first time, the event is being held on Friday and Saturday, leaving Sunday for Easter celebrations. As usual, the free event drew big crowds to marvel at the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and other aerial performers, while on the ground there were tours of both historic and modern aircraft.

Organizers expected the event to draw even more people than usual since it will be several years before another AirFest flies over Tampa because of construction taking place soon. The base is expanding its hangars for the new KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircraft coming to MacDill, so there won’t be another AirFest until 2027 at the earliest.

The AirFest continues on Saturday. Gates are open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Flying begins at noon at the base at 6901 S. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa. Admission is free. For those who want to avoid traffic, the air shows can be viewed from the water, or you could opt to park away from the base and ride a bike into the event, though remember your helmet. MacDill requires all bicycle riders to wear a helmet. See tampabayairfest.com for a schedule.

The headliners are the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, founded in 1953, who fly the F-16 Fighting Falcon and perform a combination of formation and solo maneuvers. During precision formation flights, the aircraft wingtips can be as close as 4 feet apart while performing loops, inverted rolls and high-performance turns.