“Coming to Kelowna is a huge undertaking. There is a lot of work behind the scenes that the City of Kelowna does to host us obviously, which we really appreciate. We just parachute in and put on a display after all the hard work behind the scenes to fly over the lake for you,” smiled Snowbird Captain Dominic Appolloni.
Once the team’s takeoff is green-lit from Kelowna International Airport, the snowbirds will have 45 minutes to enjoy the people watching from the ground and will strictly follow a formation given to them by their leader, snowbird one. “Snowbird one, it’s going to run everything we’re going to do by air. We’re going to head into our briefing room where we’re going to discuss the whole plan, and we’re not going to deviate from that once we get on the air, we’re going to do the show that we had planned. It’s just going to be a snowbird talking on the radio and telling us what’s going on, Apolloni added. The two shows this weekend unfortunately won’t be fan-favorite shows, but according to PR manager Gabriel Farris, viewers can expect some mesmerizing line-up changes and splits. “The reason behind it, is because when we do a big show, we need a sterile box, which is a big box basically where no one is allowed to go under and move or walk or drive or boat. And as you can imagine, shutting down Okanagan Lake for a weekend can be a little difficult for a show, and we don’t want to do that, so we’re doing non-stunts. It will still be great for the population. There’s going to be some smoke over your head, there’s going to be some noise, but there’s not going to be rolls and loops and things like that,” he explained. The snowbirds will fly in a formation of seven this Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. over Okanagan Lake and the best spot to watch it is along the waterfront near the William R. Bennett Bridge.
