The Chicago Air and Water Show: From an $88 Park District Event to the Lakefront's Biggest Weekend
The Air and Water Show started in 1959 as a park district family day with an $88 budget. Now it's the largest free air show of its kind in the country. How it grew.
Every August, jets scream over the lakefront, the windows rattle in Lincoln Park, and huge crowds pack the beaches. It started a lot smaller.
1959: $88 and a family day
The first show was held in 1959, at Chicago Avenue and the lake, as part of a Chicago Park District family day for kids in the park district's day camps. A park supervisor named Al Benedict organized it. The budget was reportedly $88.
The lineup: a Coast Guard air-sea rescue demonstration, water skiers, a water ballet, games and a diving contest.
Bigger every year
The next year, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds came, and the crowds grew. By the mid-1960s, the show was a two-day event and had moved to North Avenue Beach, which is still the center of the show today.
1990: the stealth fighter
The Air Force showed the F-117 stealth fighter to the public for the first time in April 1990, at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. That summer, Chicago got its own look. The black, flat-sided jet flew over the lakefront with the Hancock behind it. The photo at the top of this page is from that show.
What it is now
The Chicago Air and Water Show is the oldest and largest free air and water show in the country. Over a weekend in August:
- Military jet teams: the Navy Blue Angels or Air Force Thunderbirds usually headline, in alternating years
- Military demonstrations: parachute teams, rescue demos
- Civilian stunt pilots
- Water skiers and boats in the lake
Practice runs on Friday mean many people see the show twice.
Where to watch
- North Avenue Beach is the center of the action.
- The lakefront from Oak Street Beach to Fullerton has good views.
- High-rise windows and rooftops along the lake, if you know somebody.
A Chicago summer ritual
Like the Taste and the Marathon, the Air and Water Show is one of those things everybody in Chicagoland has been to at least once, usually with a sunburn.
Got a photo from an old Air and Water Show? The planes from the '60s and '70s look a lot different.