Why Peachtree City's Air Show Starts a Day Early This Halloween

"All military flight performances have been cancelled due to the federal government shutdown." Air show officials put out that statement on October 8, 2025, three days before Air Dot Show Atlanta was set to open at Atlanta Regional Airport on Falcon Field.

This fall's show is making up for that one. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels headline October 31 and November 1, 2026. Before the public weekend starts, organizers have added a private Friday for 2025 ticket holders who lost their military acts to the shutdown. For anyone living near Falcon Field, that means military jets over Peachtree City for three straight days, with Halloween falling in the middle.

What the shutdown took from the 2025 show

The 2025 show was scheduled for October 11–12, with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and the C-17 Globemaster III Demo Team as the announced military headliners. Once the shutdown hit, both were grounded along with every other military aircraft on the bill.

The gates still opened. The weekend ran as a civilian aviation festival with a P-51 Mustang, the T-6 Texan "Catch 22," the Full Throttle Formation Team, and the REMAX Parachute Team. Organizers didn't offer refunds. They said 2025 ticket holders would get to see the 2026 event, which already had the Blue Angels booked.

The shutdown hit other Georgia shows too. When the Blue Angels came to scout Falcon Field in December 2025, Atlanta News First reported that the team had canceled its mid-October appearance at the Wings Over North Georgia Air Show in Rome for the same reason.

Why Friday, Oct. 30 is part of the show this year

According to the organizer's FAQ, Friday is "a private full-performance day for eligible 2025 ticket holders affected by the government shutdown." Ground displays and vendors will be open, and the military demonstrations that were canceled in 2025 will fly. You can't buy a ticket for Friday. Saturday and Sunday are the public show days.

News outlets described the makeup offer in different ways last fall. Atlanta News First said all 2025 ticket holders would get free 2026 admission. FOX 5 and the organizer limited it to eligible attendees. If you have a 2025 ticket in your email, go by the organizer's current wording and check with them directly.

Whether or not you have a ticket, if you live under the flight path, Friday will probably sound like a show day.

The week at a glance

Here's what's on public record so far for the week, in order:

1. Tuesday, Oct. 27 through Sunday, Nov. 1. On September 24, Fayette County's Board of Commissioners had a consent item on its agenda to approve closing Lake McIntosh Park for the air show during these dates.
2. Friday, Oct. 30. The private makeup day for eligible 2025 ticket holders, with the full performance. The producer's timeline lists practice and a flight restriction from noon to 4 p.m.
3. Saturday, Oct. 31. The first public day. Gates open at 9 a.m., the Flight Line Club and corporate chalets open at 10 a.m., and flying runs from noon to about 4 p.m.
4. Sunday, Nov. 1. Same schedule. The Blue Angels' official 2026 calendar lists Peachtree City on both days.

On Halloween, the flying is scheduled to end around 4 p.m. The organizer says all the major acts perform both days and will post day-by-day lineups one to two weeks before the show. For Saturday, that probably means late October.

The current lineup is the Blue Angels, the F-16 Viper Demo Team, the Full Throttle Formation Team, Michael Goulian, the P-51 Mustang Demo, an Attack Helicopter Demo, Cyberbeast vs Plane, the Georgia State Patrol, and the REMAX Parachute Team. Some listings you'll see around town are out of date. CAF Airbase Georgia's event page still says the Thunderbirds are coming, and the Visit Peachtree City listing names the USAF Heritage of America Band, which isn't on the organizer's current performer list.

What you'll hear before Saturday

The event FAQ doesn't say when the Blue Angels arrive or practice. The most detailed schedule so far is the producer's operations timeline, which was included in Fayette County's September 24 agenda packet. It has performers and aircraft arriving on Friday, Oct. 30, and lists "Practice for show" and a temporary flight restriction from noon to 4 p.m. that day. The same plan says Lake McIntosh and Lake McIntosh Park have to be closed and monitored by law enforcement during every practice and performance period, because they sit inside the performance "box."

Saturday has the biggest effect on local roads. According to the timeline, Dividend Drive closes to through traffic at 5 a.m. between TDK Boulevard and Falcon Drive. During the closure, that stretch is open only to golf carts with parking passes, VIP pass holders, show shuttles, and vehicles with special passes for airport personnel and local business maintenance workers. Police are scheduled to start a golf cart crossing at J Cowman Parkway and TDK at 7 a.m. This is a planning document filed with an agenda item, not a city traffic advisory, so watch for the official version closer to the date.

Past shows sounded the same. On October 24, 2024, two days before that year's show, The Citizen reported that people in and around Peachtree City were "hearing the distinctive roar of U.S. Air Force jets in the air." The Georgia Sun listed a Friday flyover window of 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. that year.

The Blue Angels told Atlanta News First about one challenge specific to this airport. "One of the challenges (at Atlanta Regional Airport) is that it's a shorter runway than we typically fly with the Super Hornet," said LCDR Lilly Montana, Blue Angel #8.

This isn't Falcon Field's first time hosting the team. The Citizen reported in 2022 that the Blue Angels were scheduled to headline that year's November 5–6 show there. The show itself moved to Falcon Field from Atlanta Motor Speedway for its planned 2020 edition.

Getting in without your own parking plan

Parking is included with every ticket, and you can't buy extra parking. The parking pass comes by email, and general admission lots are assigned by GPS on the pass. Don't plan to drive to a familiar Falcon Field address. Use the pass. The rest depends on your ticket tier:

• General admission is sold in group packages, from $89 for two up to $207 for six. Each package includes one parking pass and a shuttle from a nearby lot.
• Preferred Seating is listed at $74 per adult and $59 per child ages 3–12, with on-airport parking.
• Lawn Boxes and Ramp Boxes admit four people and include one on-airfield parking pass.

Prices on the organizer's own pages don't always match. The Flight Line Club VIP page says "as low as $299," while the ticket calendar lists $199. Go by what checkout shows.

Two rules affect families most. There's no re-entry once you're inside, and the organizer strongly recommends ear protection for children under 5. The 2026 FAQ doesn't mention arriving by personal golf cart. The operations plan in the county packet does include golf cart parking areas, and it says carts on the closed stretch of Dividend Drive need parking passes, either bought ahead of time or at the golf cart parking lots. Ask the organizer how cart passes work before you head out by cart.

The hangar that's open the rest of the year

CAF Airbase Georgia, the Georgia chapter of the nonprofit Commemorative Air Force, preserves World War II aircraft at 1200 Echo Court. Its hours changed on September 21. The museum is now open Thursday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on the first Sunday of each month from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free, and docent tours start at 10 a.m.

Aircraft on display include the P-51D Mustang "Red Nose," an SBD-5 Dauntless, a Bell P-63 Kingcobra, an LT-6D Mosquito, a PT-19A, and an N2S Stearman. A Corsair and a P-47N are being restored. If the jets on Halloween weekend are too loud for your youngest, the hangar is a quieter way to see the planes.

October was already busy overhead

The air show caps a month that already has planes in it. The 46th Peachtree City Classic 5K/15K is on Saturday, Oct. 17. It's based at the Fred, the start lines are on McIntosh Trail near Huddleston Elementary, and the course runs on the cart paths. A flyover by a local formation team was slated for the start. That night, Airbase Georgia hosts Moonlight Swing at 1200 Echo Court, with live music by the Peachtree Jazz Edition, dinner, and dancing in its World War II hangar. Through October 31, The Art Initiative is at the M.T. Allen Memorial Library, 201 Willowbend Road.

If you're thinking about selling in the spring, plan your listing photos and showings around the air show week. At Wilson Corley Real Estate Group, we track Falcon Field's calendar alongside the market calendar. If you'd like to know what your home is worth before the season starts, request a free home valuation and we'll put together a timeline that keeps your open houses off show weekends.