13 June, 2012
Airbourne fans are being invited to celebrate 20 years of Airbourne: Eastbourne International Airshow with the opportunity to Guess the Year from a selection of Airbourne souvenir programme front covers.
The back catalogue of programmes spanning two decades, have been released online, along with the opportunity to guess the year for a chance to win VIP passes at the event.
Organisers are still looking for programmes from 1994, 1995 and 1996 and are also calling on anyone who has attended all shows so far from 1993 to 2011 to get in touch and share their memories and photographs leading up to 20 magnificent years.
Fans will be able to guess the year from a selection of front covers – do you remember the year of the seagull formation posters? Or the year of the Giant Balloon Race? How about the first ever Tornado visit? Or the Chinook beach rescue?
Past programme features and highlights will be released each week on the Airbourne facebook page with the opportunity for fans to post their highlights, photos and memories from each year. A selection of comments and top 20 moments will appear in the 2012 souvenir programme as part of a 20th anniversary feature.
Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism, Cllr Neil Stanley said “It’s fantastic to see how Airbourne has changed over the years from its early beginnings in 1993 to being voted best free airshow earlier this year by Airscene.co.uk. With thousands of visitors over the years there must be some great memories out there and we’d love to hear your stories.”
Airbourne takes place on Eastbourne seafront from 9 – 12 August with arena and ground displays on the Western Lawns over all four days, and entry is free.
This year’s show will see more than 20 RAF displays including the Tornado GR4, King Air, Hawk, Sea King and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. Plus former Red Arrows pilots, The Blades, will be zooming across the skies at Airbourne over all four days, hot on the heels of their recent world record success.
Organisers are also seeking sponsorship to bring the Vulcan display to Eastbourne for the first time. The cold war jet is currently undergoing engine replacement and it is expected to return to the skies mid July.
Fans can also look forward to a classic jet programme, featuring historic highlights over the 20 years of Airbourne and an end of show finale to coincide with the Olympic closing ceremony shown live on a big screen at PrincesPark.
To Guess the Year or for more information on Airbourne 2012 visit the website. To sponsor the Vulcan or any other flying display, telephone 01323 415436 or email lisa.martin-smith@eastbourne.gov.uk.
