Ocean City Air Show kicks off under new safety restrictions

OCEAN CITY, Md. – With an impressive display of military airpower, the 2020 Ocean City Air Show kicked off on Saturday dazzling thousands of spectators watching from below.

But, according to event organizers, many changes needed to be made this year in order to put on a show amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Of course, the biggest change is that we don’t have anything on the beach this year where we’ve had special viewing areas,” said the OC Air Show Public Relations Director Chris Dirato.

On top of that, event organizers tell 47ABC, although the air show is crucial for military recruiting opportunities, this year these efforts were limited in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Especially the military performers, they’re out here, this is a recruiting tool for awareness and to not be able to mix with the public is a downside for them, but at the same time the fact that they’re able to perform kind of alleviates the pain if you will,” said Dirato.

And for the first time ever, the OC Air Show has been live-streamed making it easier for people to stay socially distanced.

“So, I think everyone’s got smartphones these days, they’re able to listen to it if they really want to,” said Shawn Rossey, an Ocean City resident.

Despite these changes, some people tell 47ABC, they are just happy to have a show this year.

“It’s a great event,” said Rossey.

“It brings a lot of people to town whether that’s good or bad this year, but I love it,” said Rossey.

“Just with everything going in the world we just needed to get away and have a break and we just really enjoyed it, so we wanted to come back and see it again,” said Michele Brantner.

Event organizers say this year’s Ocean City Air Show will be one of the few times spectators can see the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and three Air Force fighter jet demos all at the same show.