The push to revive the Fort Lauderdale Air and Sea show is over. Due to financial considerations, the show simply isn't feasible. The would-be producer Stan Smith made the following statement:
"Much to our sincere regret, we must announce today that the Air Lauderdale Beach Fest 2010, scheduled for April 24 and 25, has been canceled. Several factors have made the production of a quality event financially untenable at this time including the estimated cost of Fort Lauderdale City Services ($500,000 to $600,000), the required $1 million bond and the overall soft economy. The unavailability of the Air Force Thunderbirds or the Navy Blue Angels also negatively impacted the already weak sponsorship market.
We wish to thank the U.S. Military, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler, the Fort Lauderdale City Commission and staff for their hard work, support and encouragement. We are also grateful to our loyal sponsors and the many enthusiastic supporters, volunteers and Facebook fans who did step forward to help bring the community together to Thank the Troops.We also wish to extend our appreciation for the guidance and support of Broward Mayor Ken Keechl and Nicki Grossman of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau. We will continue with our efforts to support Fleet Week 20th anniversary by holding a kick off event at the beach in late April. Our plans for 2011 are forthcoming."
Its unfortunate that it took them so long to figure out that they couldn't pull it off. How many people have already made plans to be here? How many hotels and venues who where beefing up for a monster weekend are left holding the bag?
A final decision should have been made before 2010. This is a bad job by organizers. Instead of getting an Air Show that is a boon to the city, we're getting a black eye and angering potential visitors. There must be an effort in the future to avoid this sort of late cancellation.