Pensacola Beach, Fla. – (OBA) – One of the biggest boating events of the year starts Wednesday, July 6, with the fly-in for the Blue Angels annual show over Pensacola Beach.

Boats will stream eastward on the Intracoastal Waterway from Orange Beach and Gulf Shores to enjoy a day on the water and a stunning air show overhead. Levis and Ricky Lee of Orange Beach are regulars at the annual July shows.

“We all go with our boats over there and it’s a party on the water,” Levis said. “And then there's live music at Flounders and all the other restaurants near there.”

All of that is fun, Levis said, but the star of the show is the performance by the Blue Angels.

“Most of all, seeing the Blues fly is such an exciting feeling – not just seeing but feeling the roar,” she said. “It makes us feel our country is strong. A patriotic feeling all the way.”

The schedule includes a dress rehearsal on July 7 at 2 p.m., full dress rehearsal on July 8 at 11 a.m. including civilian acts and July 9 at 11 a.m. is the day for the air show. Once again, the Santa Rosa Island Authority will be the host for the show.

“We are so excited to be able to host our hometown heroes on our beautiful beach,” Leigh Davis, Executive Director, said. “It’s an awe-inspiring tradition that locals and tourists alike get to enjoy every summer bearing witness to the breathtaking display by the United States Navy’s finest.”

Several air acts will precede the Blues shows and they are expected to fly both July 8 and July 9 about 2 p.m. Part of the show will include a demonstration by the U.S. Coast Guard Air-Rescue crew near the beach pier from a MH-650 Medevac Helicopter and include deploying a rescue swimmer.

The Blue Angels were founded as the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron in 1946 and annual shows attract more than 11 million people at shows all over the country.

A complete schedule is available on Visit Pensacola’s website. The full show on July 9 will include:

• Julian McQueen in a 1943 Grumman Widgeon seaplane leading the show at 11 a.m.
• The Veteran’s Flight team is next with about a dozen Stearman bi-planes flying WWII and Korean War veterans over Pensacola Beach on July 8-9.
• Next is a demonstration by a U.S. Coast Air-Sea Rescue crew.
• Solo pilot Kevin Coleman will follow with his Extra 300 SHP stunt plane.
• The Redline Aerobatic Team is next in signature red and black stunt planes performing a variety of stunts and inverted maneuvers.
• Skip Stewart will perform stunts next in his bi-plane, Prometheus.
• Up next is Patty Wagstaff, the first woman to win the U.S. National Aerobatic champion, will perform some hard-core aerobatics.
• The last act before the Blues will be Gary Ward in a MX2 aircraft.
• Fat Albert, the team’s famous C-130 transport, will lead the way at 2 p.m. followed by the six F-18 Super Hornets for 50 minutes of daring aerobatics over the beach. There will be a 35-minute intermission before the Blues portion of the show begins.