Ongoing Airport Construction Delays Lake Cumberland Air Show

Fans of a popular air-show usually held in Kentucky’s Pulaski County will need to curb their enthusiasm and settle in for a spell—a full year to be precise—before they can once again revel in the aircraft, attractions, and aerial demonstrations of which the south-central Bluegrass State has grown rightly and resolutely enamored.

Organizers of the Lake Cumberland Air Show ruefully announced on Tuesday, 14 March 2023 that ongoing construction at the Lake Cumberland Regional Airport (SME)—a facility comprising a single, paved, 5,801-foot runway situated 2.3-nautical-miles south of Somerset, Kentucky—has compelled them to push the show to 2024.

The SME tarmac, where show aircraft customarily park and stage, is undergoing extensive refurbishment work, the larger part of which will not conclude until autumn 2023.

Air-show officials, in a propitious instantiation of optimism, set forth that the extra year will afford them time to organize a bigger and better show—better even than the 2022 event which drew an impressive eight-thousand attendees.

Having debuted in 2021, the Lake Cumberland Air Show is a relatively new event, envisaged by its creators and promoters as a means by which to attract visitors to the Lake Cumberland Regional Airport for purpose of contemporaneously highlighting the importance of aviation and community involvement.

Somerset-Pulaski Chamber of Commerce executive director Bobby Clue stated: “The Lake Cumberland Air Show has quickly become one of our region’s fastest-growing outdoor events. It serves as an important avenue to salute our veterans, involves the community, and showcases aviation at our world-class airport.”

In January 2023, during the organization’s annual banquet, the Somerset-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce named the Lake Cumberland Air Show the Community Event of the Year.

Presently, show organizers assert the next iteration of the Lake Cumberland Air Show will kick-off on 21 September 2024. Airport board member and Lake Cumberland Air Show President David Morris stated organizers are already accepting sponsorships for the event.

Parties interested in displaying, participating in, or attending 2024’s Lake Cumberland Air Show are cordially invited to visit the event’s website.

FMI: www.lakecumberlandairshow.com