Free Festival of Flight Wings to Long Beach Airport

Plane buffs'll be out for a day of close-up aircraft admiring and other good things to do, too.

What to Know

  • Saturday, Nov. 17
  • 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Planes, displays, food trucks, beer trucks, live music

Movies, since the dawn of movies, or so it seems, have found great comic fodder, and occasional drama, in harried travelers rushing to their gate and, ultimately, onto their airplane, before that final door shuts.

It's an oft-used trope because there's some truth to it, but there's also truth in the fact that people don't want to be harried or rushed when it comes to heading to the airport.

And if those people are plane obsessed with flying machines?

They want to take their time while there, all to observe the huge, wing-sporting works of art that will soon go up, up, up into the sky, leaving the tarmac and admiring fans below.

Yes, we said "plane obsessed," and if you are plainly obsessed with planes, you'll likely find your way to the Long Beach Airport on Saturday, Nov. 17 for the free Festival of Flight. 

The six-hour happening will include on-the-ground, fully stopped planes, including a C-17 (hailing from March Air Force Base) and a Lockeheed Model 10 Electra, "the same model airplane flown by Amelia Earheart."

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Other powerful icons of the sky'll be in the house, or on the tarmac, rather, with a caboodle of complementary to-dos filling out a day that promises to be as packed as an overhead bin.

Live music, a presentation by a '40s-inspired vocal/dance troupe, and displays brimming with airplane information will lend further fun and knowledge. 

And on the appetizing and/or quenching end? There shall be food trucks, and beer trucks, too, so while the entry is free, show with lunch or libation money, if that appeals.

It's the Long Beach Airport's 95th anniversary this year, and you can bet so many wheels-down, wings-up moments have happened at the location. 

Consider the annual Festival of Flight a celebration of this big occasion. Also big? The attendance, which makes sense, as there are plenty of plane-loving fans out there (and the free admisison also ups the bustle, too).

Arrive early and enjoy a rare airport-based bash, one that has history, music, eats, and plenty of awesomely powered crafts that regularly traverse the skies.

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