Sea and Sky Air Show in Jacksonville, Florida

The Sea and Sky Air Show is a free weekend of military and civilian flying over the ocean at Jacksonville Beach, produced by the City of Jacksonville.

The City of Jacksonville Special Events page lists the show at 75 1st St N. in Jacksonville Beach and describes a FREE over-the-ocean sky show with a mix of military and civilian aviation performers. The city's Office of Sports and Entertainment runs it with the separate City of Jacksonville Beach, which is its own municipality inside Duval County, and the 2023 and 2027 announcements also name Naval Station Mayport as a partner.

The Navy gives the show its starting date. The NAS Jacksonville air show history, written by base historian Ron Williamson, states that in 2001 Jacksonville Beach held their first air show and now alternates every other year with NAS Jacksonville to host the annual event. The city page adds that the City of Jacksonville does not coordinate the NAS JAX Air Show, so the beach show and the base show on the Westside are separate events with separate organizers.

The Blue Angels began at Naval Air Station Jacksonville in 1946, so a Jacksonville booking is a return to the team's first home.

The Navy's biography of the first Blue Angel, Capt. Roy M. Butch Voris, says that in 1946 the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations directed the establishment of a Navy flight exhibition team, and that Voris, then assigned to the Advanced Training Command at NAS Jacksonville, was selected as officer in charge and flight leader. He chose the Grumman F6F Hellcat, had it lightened and painted in Navy blue and gold, and the team flew its first air show at the Southeastern Air Exposition at Craig Airfield, Jacksonville.

The base chronology lists a private show for Navy officials at NAS Jacksonville on June 7, 1946, and a public Blue Angels show there on Sept. 29, 1946. The two official accounts frame the debut differently: the Navy biography places the first air show at Craig Airfield without a date, while Mayor Donna Deegan, in the city's 2023 release, spoke of the team's debut here at Craig Field in June 1946. The base history adds that Cmdr. Raleigh Dusty Rhodes, the third team leader while the Blue Angels were based at NAS Jax, led the team's move to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, in October 1948, and the Voris biography places the current home of the Blue Angels in Pensacola.

The City of Jacksonville's own releases show the Blue Angels headlining in 2023 and missing the 2025 show because of the federal shutdown.

The 2023 city release announced the show for Saturday, October 21 and Sunday, October 22, 2023, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily in Jacksonville Beach, presented by the City of Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport and the cities of Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach. It listed a Military Recruitment Zone presented by Veterans Florida, a Kids Zone and a VIP Experience presented by VyStar Credit Union that had sold out for both days.

2025 was the hard year. The city release of October 24, 2025 confirmed that, due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the Viper Demo Team would no longer perform at the show on October 25 and 26, 2025. The Jacksonville Beach show went on with civilian performers: Adam Baker, The Chuters, Mini Jet, Radial Rumble, Redline and the Titan Aerobatic Team. The Chuters, added that week, are described by the city as a veteran-owned parachute team.

The City of Jacksonville pays for the show through its Special Events budget, with sponsors covering activations such as the VIP area.

The Jacksonville City Council Auditor's review of the proposed FY 2025/26 budget lists a Memorial Wall, Sea and Sky line in the Special Events general fund at $355,000 proposed for FY 2025/26, against $155,000 approved for FY 2024/25, an increase of $200,000. The auditor explains that the increase covers the Memorial Wall Sea and Sky Spectacular event, which had been funded in FY 2024/25 by a separate ordinance because, when that budget was written, it was not thought the event would occur. The same review notes that funding for the Sea and Sky event is included in the proposed budget.

Sponsors fill out the rest. In 2025 the city named the Military Recruitment Zone as presented by The Boeing Company and the VIP Experience as presented by VyStar Credit Union, with advance VIP tickets for sale. The Jacksonville event page invites businesses to contact its sponsorship manager about Sea and Sky partnerships.

For the 2025 show the City of Jacksonville closed beach parking to the public and ran paid shuttles from two Southside campuses.

The 2025 release stated that public parking would be unavailable in Jacksonville Beach on Saturday and Sunday. Visitors could park free at FSCJ South Campus, 11901 Beach Boulevard, or UNF Hicks Hall, 4892 First Coast Tech Parkway, and ride the Sea and Sky shuttle for $10 plus tax and fees per person round trip, with children five and under free and credit cards only. Shuttles ran 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days and dropped riders at Ocean Beach Rescue Headquarters, 2 Oceanfront North, while the ADA shuttle stopped at Jacksonville Beach City Hall, 11 3rd Street North.

The event itself was open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with air performances starting at 1 p.m. Road closures began Friday, October 24, at 9 a.m. on Pablo Avenue between North 6th Street and 3rd Street South and on 4th Street North, and 1st Street North between 1st Avenue North and Beach Boulevard closed from 9:30 a.m. that Friday until 7 p.m. Sunday, with access to the Four Points by Sheraton Jacksonville Beachfront kept open. The 2027 announcement says parking, shuttle and road closure details for Jacksonville Beach will be released closer to the date.

The next Sea and Sky Air Show is set for October 23 and 24, 2027, at Jacksonville Beach, with the Blue Angels announced.

The city release of December 9, 2025 announced the 2027 Jacksonville Beach show and the return of the Blue Angels on the day the 2027 national air show calendar was released at the International Council of Air Shows convention in Las Vegas. The city page repeats the dates, Saturday, October 23, 2027 and Sunday, October 24, 2027, and says details for the 2027 show will follow.

In the off year the Blue Angels fly at the base. The NAS Jax Air Show site, run by Navy MWR, scheduled the Birthplace of the Blue Angels show for October 17 and 18, 2026, at NAS Jacksonville, with free admission and parking, gates at 9 a.m., the show at 11 a.m. and the Blue Angels at 3 p.m. The base show draws far larger crowds: the Navy history records more than 350,000 people at the October 22 and 23, 2022 show and approximately 450,000 in 2024, a station record, featuring the Blue Angels and the Air Force F-35 Demonstration Squadron.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, against the City of Jacksonville Sea and Sky event page, the city's 2023, 2025 and 2027 air show releases, the Council Auditor's FY 2025/26 Special Events budget review, both NAS Jacksonville history pages and the Navy MWR NAS Jax Air Show site.