‘Spectacle scale’ airshow planned for the Gold Coast in 2023
The Gold Coast has been chosen to host an American-style ‘spectacle scale’ airshow set to bring huge crowds to the glitter strip.
An airshow unlike anything ever staged in Australia is set to erupt over the Gold Coast next year in a spectacle of sound, colour and aerobatics.
With the backing of the Australian Defence Force, Gold Coast City Council and Major Events Gold Coast, US company Code Four will produce the three day Pacific Airshow at Surfers Paradise.
The company has co-ordinated the event at Huntington Beach in California since 2016, with crowds of up to 3 million people turning out to watch the display.
Code Four CEO Kevin Elliott said they had been looking to replicate the Pacific Airshow in an overseas location and settled on the Gold Coast as the ideal venue.
“There’s a population that can support an event like this and when you take a deeper dive into the city and the greater region, there’s an area that’s really accustomed to hosting major events and has the infrastructure for it,” said Mr Elliott.
“Then there’s this beautiful long straight stretch of beach with all the right types of accommodation and it’s sort of eerily similar to what we’re dealing with in southern California.”
He said the first Pacific Airshow Gold Coast was planned for a weekend in August 2023 — a time of year normally free of bad weather with plenty of accommodation available.
“This will be a real boost to the economy,” Mr Elliott said.
Although the airshow line-up was a long way out from being finalised, the Royal Australian Air Force was considered a “certainty” to participate along with the US navy and Air force.
“We’re really focused on making this an opportunity for all allied nations to come and play if you will,” said Mr Elliott.
“We’re going to be hopefully seeing a pretty robust pipeline of international participation and then we’ll obviously have the Australian Army and navy participating so it’ll be a playground for everybody.”
Conducted over four-hours, the Pacific Airshow promised to be “non-stop aerial entertainment” and largely free to spectators.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate welcomed the announcement after two years of “meticulous planning and negotiation”.
“This is the kind of event people will travel far and wide to experience, attracting not just aviation enthusiasts and families from across Queensland and Australia, but international visitors as well,” said Cr Tate.
Major Events Gold Coast CEO Jan McCormick said the organisation had been established in mid-2020 with the purpose of attracting large-scale international events to the region.
“The Pacific Airshow is everything we have been working towards,” said Ms McCormick.
“The Gold Coast and indeed Australia, have never seen an event of this scale before.”
Mr Elliott said there would be ticketed hospitality venues at Surfers Paradise supported by a festival atmosphere with market stalls and other activities.
“You don’t have to like jets to want to come down and sit on the beach and enjoy your day with family and friends,” he said.
“I can tell you from a community standpoint the love and sentiment for this event (in the US) exceeds the Fourth of July. I will assume it’ll be like the best of Anzac Day combined with all the other family favourites. It’s a very patriotic and inspiring weekend.”
The estimated cost of the airshow was “upwards of $5 million not including the investments made with respect to defence assets”.
At Huntington Beach the 2021 event was assessed to have made a $US105 million economic impact to the city, including $US68 million in direct spending.
“We hope this will be an area where not only Australia and the US but countries like the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan and others will come and participate and build a relationship and to put a bow on it, I think our timing is right for an opportunity like this in this region,” Mr Elliott said.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority confirmed it had granted regulatory approval for the three day airshow next year.
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