SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The government shutdown has excluded the Blue Angels from their crowd-pleasing, stunt-filled air show at San Francisco Fleet Week. But real Canadian pilots and Colombian sailors will be on hand to ensure the show goes on, organizers said Wednesday.
The three-masted ARC Gloria, which is the official flagship of the Colombian Navy, will arrive in the port of San Francisco on Thursday and the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds will headline the air show this weekend.
The late U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein started Fleet Week in 1981, as a civic celebration and tribute to all those who serve in the armed forces.
“And since then, almost every October, the sound of airplanes has become a familiar soundtrack in the city,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said at a press event held at the city’s iconic Fisherman’s Wharf, with the flags of the United States, Colombia and Canada flying behind him.
The festival attracts more than 1 million visitors who stay in San Francisco hotels, eat in its restaurants and devour its natural beauty. There is also live music, boat tours, and exhibits focused on military preparedness and local preparedness for disaster response.
Officials said the air show will remain world-class, with the Snowbirds performing military aerobatics.
Sonia Marina Pereira Portilla, Consul General of Colombia, said that San Francisco was the perfect city to host ARC Gloria. The sailboat has visited ports around the world, bringing with it, he said, “the culture, identity and good will” of Colombia.
“Let’s take advantage of this moment to strengthen the friendship between our people,” he said.