In light of the Vanderhoof International Airshow being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vanderhoof International Airshow Society is working on an alternate event.
“The Great Regional Air Hug” will be held on August 15, and consist of an organized multi-aircraft flyover of northern BC.
“The name was something thrown out at a meeting a little bit factitiously, and everyone just said ‘you know what? that’s perfect. It really just sums up what we want to do. This year, with COVID-19, air hugs are unfortunately what we’ve had to do,” said Anne Stevens with the Vanderhoof International Airshow Society.
The exact route will be announced closer to the event, however, the goal is to route the aircraft over Prince George, Vanderhoof, Fort St. James Fort Fraser, and possibly even as far as Burns Lake, including the First Nations communities of Nak’azdli, Saik’uz, Nadleh Whut’en, and Stellat’en.
“Since we are not able to invite our guests to an airshow, it is our plan to bring at least a small part of the airshow to the people of our districts and villages in an appropriate, physically distant way,” Stevens added.
“We were modeling it after some of the things the big jet teams were doing, the snowbirds, the blue angels. The thing about this is that we thought we could cover areas that maybe wouldn’t have normally come to the show.”
The event will also be live-streamed from the airport.