2020 Miramar Air Show canceled due to ongoing spread of coronavirus
The San Diego air show will resume next year, Marines say.
The annual Miramar Air Show, where each year the Navy’s Blue Angels and other aircraft perform for hundreds of thousands of spectators, will not take place in 2020 due to ongoing public health risks associated with the novel coronavirus, the Marines announced Monday.
Col. Charles Dockery, the commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, announced the decision to cancel in a statement citing the continuing spread of COVID-19 in California and beyond.
“While we had initially hoped to host the show and help usher in a reopened San Diego, there are still a great many risks posed with a mass gathering of this size and scale to do it in a way that ensures our guests absolute safety,” Dockery said. “It remains a prudent choice to look ahead to 2021 and make it better than ever.”
The show is the largest military air show in the world and draws about 500,000 visitors to the base each year, according to the statement.
In 2019, the Miramar Air Show featured performances by the Navy’s Blue Angels, the Air Force’s F-16 Viper Demonstration Team and the Great Britain Royal Air Force Red Arrows among many others. Last year it stretched over three days in September.
The airshow, which began in 1953, was canceled in 2013 during federal budget restrictions.
The air show is the latest among several annual events, such as the county fair and Comic-Con, canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dyer writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
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