Italy’s Frecce Tricolori headline 2024 Ocean City Airshow

OCEAN CITY, Md. – Residents had wait to deeper into summer than they’re used to, but Saturday finally brought the return of the Ocean City Air Show.

“The thing that caught me by surprise the most has definitely been the noise. In your head you think gonna be like a ‘zoom’, but really it’s more of a ‘woosh.'” For the first time since he was eight, Daniel–an Eagles fan–came to the beach to cheer on some different birds. “The show’s been phenomenal,” he said.

Anne Marie lived in Ocean City for over 20 years before moving to Italy in her retirement. With the Italian Frecce Tricolori headlining, this year’s show held a special meaning for her “Today, meeting these young fellas, it was such an emotional piece for me. Really proud, couldn’t be more proud to be an Italian, and American.”

This summer’s tour marked the first time in 30 years that the Frecce Tricolori have performed in the United States.

Colonel Stefano Pietropaoli, commander of their North American tour, expected to impress the Ocean City crowd. “They will love the professionalism of the pilots, the technology of the aircraft, the big heart of the Italian people. We love everybody, we want to give a big hug to all the people that are here,” he said.

Hours of acrobatics from some of the most skilled pilots and impressive planes in the world, in some ways, this year’s air show was just like it’s always been. In the words of Anne Marie: “It’s a must. It’s a definite, definite must.”