St. Cloud Air Show Cancelled

The 2013 St. Cloud Air Show has officially been grounded. The move was announced this afternoon (Tuesday) by organizers and with a note on their website.

The press release states the Sequester as the reason for the cancellation. Rumors began to swirl after Congress failed to meet an agreement on the Sequester at the beginning of March, implementing drastic slashes in large military spending. That in turn cast doubt on an appearance by the Naval air demo team the Blue Angels, who require an enormous amount of military support.

Even more doubt over the state of the airshow surfaced as over 25 other air shows have also been cancelled across the country.

Here is the entire press release;

As a result of the sequestration and with that the uncertainty of the appearance of the Blue Angels, The Central Minnesota Council of Boy Scouts has decided to cancel the St. Cloud Air Show scheduled for July 20th and 21st. Over 25 other shows have been cancelled across the country with more sure to follow due the Sequester. Because of the Sequester we have lost all of the military support needed to put on a successful air show.

“Our decision to cease planning for the 2013 Air Show comes after careful review and consideration of the fiscal challenges we would face by not having the Blue Angels appear,” said Dave Trehey of the Central Minnesota Council of Boy Scouts.

“We are very disappointed, especially after all the hard work that has already been put into the show by our volunteers,” added Jill Magelssen, Air Show Chairwoman. “When you lose the headline act you lose the momentum going into the show. The St. Cloud Air Show was a fundraising event for the Central Minnesota Council of Boy Scouts. We could not take the very real chance that the show would lose money.”

The many people who have already purchased tickets will be refunded their money by the company that was handling ticket sales. Information on how the refunds will be handled will be on the air show website www.stcloudairshow.com by the end of this week.

“We appreciate all of the support the community has given us in the planning of the Air Show,” added Trehey. “There is a very good chance that we will again have the opportunity to bring the Blue Angels back to Central Minnesota. We hope that you will be as excited about it again.”

The show was being organized by the Central Minnesota Council of Boy Scouts.