On Again Off Again Celebration Is On Again

It's almost a cheap shot to say that the 2004 Wichita Aviation Festival has been up in the air. But it has.

The on-again, off-again event now appears to be on again, after Wichita city leaders announced they'd back a scaled-down version of the show. The Wichita Eagle reports the festival is scheduled for September 24th and 25th at McConnell AFB.

"The city is going to do basically what it did last year," Mayor Carlos Mayans said. "It was a city festival." Mayans says his city will contribute $125,000 of the estimated $400,000 it will take to get the show off the ground.

But officials in Wichita want out of show business. For the 2005 extravaganza, they're considering the use of an outside firm to run things. "The city's desire is not to be in the events business," said John D'Angelo, who directed the festival during its first two years and is also director of CityArts.

The city had pulled out of the event after officials decided they couldn't foot the bill for another show. Wichita Festivals, the event company which will help put on this year's show, last week withdrew from negotiations when it decided it couldn't foot the tab for a free show either. The very next day, C.K. Newcomb & Associates of Cleveland, the company that stages airshows in Cleveland and Dayton, also pulled out. Newcomb reportedly wanted to move the show to Jabara Airport and charge admission. By law, the McConnell show can't charge a fee for entry.

The Eagle reports city officials were "stunned" at losing both prospective show managers. So Wichita went back to the drawing board. Details on this year's show will come at a later date.

FMI: www.wichitafestivals.com