11:20 a.m. | Pre-Blues performances takes to the skies
The Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show on Saturday kicked off at 11:15 a.m. with the singing of the national anthem and a quick flyover by training aircraft from NAS Pensacola.
Up next, attendees will see a variety of aircraft including Stearman planes, an F-22 Raptor and multiple demonstrations by civilian pilots in the leadup to the Blue Angels taking to the sky at 2 p.m. over Casino Beach.
Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show: Updated schedule released for Friday, Saturday shows
Photos from Friday’s show: Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show photos Friday at Pensacola Beach
What to know before you go: Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show 2021 at Pensacola Beach: What you need to know
Here’s what you can expect to see Saturday. More info about each of the performances is available here.
- 11:20 a.m.: National anthem and Navy TW-5 and TW-6
- 11:25 to 11:35 a.m.: Coast Guard SAR Demo
- 11:37 a.m. to 11:47 a.m.: Veteran’s Flight
- 11:49 a.m. to 12:04 p.m.: Air Force F-22 Raptor
- 12:06 to 12:21 p.m.: Airbase Georgia
- 12:23 to 12:38 p.m.: Rob Holland
- 12:40 to 12:55 p.m.: AeroShell Team
- 12:57 to 1:12 p.m.: Navy F-35 Lightning II
- 1:31 to 1:46 p.m.: Skip Stewart
- 2 to 2:45 p.m.: Fat Albert and the Blue Angels
The temperature at Pensacola Beach was barely over 50 degrees when the first swimmers took to the water.
Ben Goereen watched as his 13-year-old son, Connor, splashed in the surf about an hour before the Homecoming Air Show kicks off with civilian performances.
“That’s so crazy, his being in the water. Hell no,” Goereen said, about the idea of himself going for a dip.
After Connor emerged from the water and his dad handed him a towel, the teen said he enjoyed seeing the Blue Angels and had seen them practicing a couple of days ago.
“They were practicing their flights and arrivals over the bay, and we were watching them from our boat,” his dad said.
Goereen traveled to the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show on Saturday with his three children, his girlfriend’s children and other friends. In total, the group was 11 strong.
His girlfriend’s son, 11-year-old Peyton, accompanied Connor during his swim.
Conner said the water was at least a bit cold but he didn’t shiver when he got out it. Peyton had a different opinion.
“It’s cold,” he said.
The group of 11 arrived at Casino Beach close to 5:30 a.m. to secure waterfront seating on the sand. The early arrival led to hours of wait time, which was the primary reason the boys decided to go for a swim.
“I was bored,” Peyton said.
Goereen added, while laughing, “Bored at the beach and needed some water.”
It’s always nice when you can combine two activities you enjoy into a single day of leisure. That’s exactly what Tony Credille, of Mary Ester, managed to do Saturday at the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show as he fished while waiting for the Blues to fly.
Well, he at least was trying to fish.
“They’re not biting this morning. Nothing’s here,” he said from the Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier overlooking the water.
There were no bait balls, schools or even a solitary fish to be seen in the translucent saltwater below.
“But, hey, look over here,” Credille said, pointing down. “You see them, stingrays playing in the surf.”
Three sting rays could be seen sailing in the shallow surf close to shore while back on the beach, the crowd already gathered by 9:45 a.m. to watch the Blues fly across the sky later in the afternoon.
“Yep, I came out here to watch the Blue Angels and do some fishing,” Credille said. “But that’s not going to happen. I guess they said that they are going to close the pier at 10:30 a.m.”
He was right. No one will be allowed to walk down the pier farther than the point at which it extends past the shoreline as the air show kicks off. The Blue Angels are expected to fly at 2 p.m. and a slate of warmup acts begin at 11:20 a.m.
Glad to have at least gotten a little fishing in before the show, Credille was still a bit disappointed he couldn’t fish all day and through the show. But seeing the Blues makes up for that.
“I’ve been before,” Credille said about a Blues show. “They’re pretty awesome.”
He added, “I’ve seen them fly when I’ve been on the Navarre Pier. You can see them there, too, at least the tail-end of them.”
The Casino Beach parking lot is full as a growing crowd is starting to gather at Pensacola Beach ahead of the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show.
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies closed the roughly 1,000-space lot just before 9:30 a.m. Saturday, which is about 20 minutes earlier than it was closed Friday for the show, an indicator that Saturday’s show will have a larger turnout.
Show goers can try to find additional parking at the Fort Pickens lot to the west side of Pensacola Beach or the Park East lot on the east of the Pensacola Beach ball. Trolleys are running from both alternative lots to the show’s main staging area all day.
While official crowd estimates for this weekend’s shows won’t be available until Monday, how quickly the Casino Beach lot fills up is often a good barometer for the size of the crowd. During the beach air show in the summer, the lot often fills up before 7 a.m.
While the cold weather is keeping people out of the water, the beach is flying yellow flags, which means moderate surf and currents. Those who do opt for a chilly swim, should exercise extra caution.
Parking spaces close to the staging area for the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show on Saturday are becoming harder to find in the main Casino Beach parking lot as it fills up.
At 8:45 a.m., Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies who were monitoring the parking situation said they doubted the lot would remain open for another hour.
Anyone who wants a spot in the main parking lot and a chance to avoid a hike or trolley ride to the show should be heading down immediately, according to deputies.
There is good news for the Blue Angels fans who came to Pensacola Beach Saturday wearing coats and hats to watch the show.
The weather is expected to warm up throughout the day and the wind is expected to calm down, according to the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama.
“You couldn’t ask for better weather,” said NWS meteorologist Michael Mugrage, while also admitting the morning was getting off to a “cool start.”
Shortly after sunrise, temperatures were in the low- to mid-40s shortly.
“There will be bright sunshine all day, and as we go about the day, it will stay clear and dry,” Mugrage said.
Daily high temperatures are expected to reach the low to mid 60s by the time the Blue Angels take flight at about 2 p.m.
“The wind should continue to die down here now that we’re in the daylight,” Mugrage added.
Blue Angel fans on the beach should expect sustained winds of about 10 mph to last throughout the day with an occasional 15 mph gust or two.
As the sun rose over Pensacola Beach hours before the start of the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show, the light illuminated a big white tent on the sand.
The tent was the largest structure — not counting lifeguard towers — to be set up on the beach as of 7 a.m. It belongs to Matt and Jenny Reed, and 6-year-old Alex was asleep on an air mattress inside.
“He just loves the Blue Angels,” Matt Reed said.
The Reeds arrived at the Casino Beach parking lot at 4:45 a.m. to ensure that they got a spot close to the water to watch the Blue Angels fly later in the afternoon, even though Alex wasn’t too thrilled about getting up early.
“I had to bribe him with donuts and hot chocolate,” Jenny Reed said.
The family recently moved to Pensacola earlier this year from Bahrain, a country in the Persian Gulf where Matt Reed had been stationed for the U.S. Navy.
“We saw the air show in the summer, and by this time, the beach was already packed,” he said at about 7 a.m. “We wanted to make sure we got a good spot.”
Jenny Reed added when they arrived at 4:45 a.m. for the summer show the same lot was about three-quarters full. But at 4:45 a.m. Saturday, it was “pretty much empty,” she said.
“Except for us,” Matt Reed interjected, laughing.
“There were like 12 cars,” Jenny Reed said.
Still, as of 7:30 a.m., the Casino Beach parking lot was filling up fast.
It was an unusually cold Friday morning for the first day of the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show at Pensacola Beach, but temperatures were even colder Saturday for the final show.
Still, the fans came out.
Before 6 a.m. Saturday, Blue Angels fans were already unloading their beach chairs and trudging through the chilly weather and a stiff wind to claim their spots on Casino Beach.
The civilian and military performances are expected to start at 11:20 a.m., and the Blue Angels, along with Fat Albert, should start flying at 2 p.m. The updated schedule for the show is available here.
By 6:30 a.m., there were noticeably more people at the Casino Beach parking lot Saturday morning than the previous day.
The main parking lot, which has about 1,000 spaces, was already starting to fill up. On a typical beach show in the summer, the lot is often full before 7 a.m. On Friday, however, the lot didn’t fill up until shortly before 10 a.m.
While there was still plenty of room in the large lot beneath the iconic Pensacola Beach ball as of 6:30 a.m., anyone heading out to Saturday’s show should start heading to the beach if they want a spot close by the water.
Temperatures at the beach were in the mid-40s early Saturday morning, and the forecast calls for a high near 65. It’s also expected to be another windy day, with winds coming in at about 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
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