SkyFest 2026 dates announced as celebration returns to Fairchild Air Force Base

Officials at Fairchild Air Force Base announced Friday that SkyFest will take place June 6 -7 at the military facility in Airway Heights.

A planned rehearsal is set for June 5.

The show will feature aerial demonstrations, displays, educational booths and multiple vendors.

The event historically has attracted a mix of modern military aircraft and pilots who perform with historical airplanes that had been part of the U.S. forces or those used to train pilots.

So far, the only confirmed team is the F-16 Viper Demo Team, Senior Airman Clare Werner said.

“We’ll get more confirmed teams later,” Werner said. “It takes a lot of moving parts to figure out who’s coming.”

For instance, the 2024 SkyFest featured the swearing-in of new enlistees in front of two A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthogs.”

The Warthogs took part in the event as part of their final demonstration tour. While many Thunderbolt II’s remain in service, the demo team ended their shows in 2024.

SkyFest almost always allows visitors to watch and get close to Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, which continue to operate out of Fairchild as part of the active duty U.S. Air Force’s 92nd Air Refueling Wing and the Air National Guard’s 141st Air Refueling Wing.

The shows also tend to include massive transport planes, like the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, and both Cold War-era jets, World War II-era prop-engine planes and next -generation jet aircraft like the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.