{"id":64672,"date":"2026-04-12T17:40:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=64672"},"modified":"2026-04-12T22:04:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T02:04:45","slug":"air-show-schedules-and-what-to-do-at-sun-n-fun-2026-day-by-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/04\/12\/air-show-schedules-and-what-to-do-at-sun-n-fun-2026-day-by-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Air show schedules and what to do at SUN ‘n FUN 2026, day by day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo 2026<\/strong> is set to take place from April 14\u201319<\/strong> at the Lakeland Linder International Airport. This year features a significant change to the mid-week schedule with the introduction of the “Composite Airshow” on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Below is your day-by-day guide to the airshows and key activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83d\uddd3\ufe0f Daily Airshow Schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Day<\/strong><\/td>Airshow Time<\/strong><\/td>Key Highlight Acts<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Tuesday, April 14<\/strong><\/td>1:00 PM \u2013 5:30 PM<\/td>USAF Thunderbirds (Arrival\/Maneuvers), F-22 Raptor Demo<\/td><\/tr>
Wednesday, April 15<\/strong><\/td>5:00 PM \u2013 9:15 PM<\/strong><\/td>Composite Airshow<\/strong> (Sunset & Night Acts), F-22 Raptor<\/td><\/tr>
Thursday, April 16<\/strong><\/td>1:00 PM \u2013 5:15 PM<\/td>Warbirds Show, B-25 “Panchito”, F-22 Raptor Demo<\/td><\/tr>
Friday, April 17<\/strong><\/td>1:00 PM \u2013 5:00 PM<\/td>USAF Thunderbirds, F-18 Rhino Demo, Red Bull Air Force<\/td><\/tr>
Saturday, April 18<\/strong><\/td>1:00 PM \u2013 5:00 PM<\/td>Day Airshow: F-22 Raptor, F-18 Rhino, Warbirds<\/td><\/tr>
Saturday Night<\/strong><\/td>7:00 PM \u2013 9:15 PM<\/td>Night Airshow<\/strong>: Pyrotechnics, Drones, Fireworks<\/td><\/tr>
Sunday, April 19<\/strong><\/td>1:00 PM \u2013 5:00 PM<\/td>USAF Thunderbirds (Full Show), F-18 Rhino Demo<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\ude80 Day-by-Day Activities & Special Events<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, April 14: Opening Day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Morning:<\/strong> Check out the Drone Soccer World Cup<\/strong> and explore the 500+ exhibitors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Evening (5:00 PM):<\/strong> Opening Night Concert on the Warbird Ramp featuring Cooper Alan<\/strong> and Thomas Mac<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • What to do:<\/strong> Visit the Flight Tech Sim Center<\/strong> (9 AM \u2013 5 PM) to try your hand at flight simulators.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Wednesday, April 15: The Composite Show<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • New Format:<\/strong> Instead of a separate day\/night show, everything is combined into one continuous event starting at 5:00 PM.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • What to do:<\/strong> Use the extra morning time (7 AM \u2013 5 PM) to visit the Forums & Workshops<\/strong> or the STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) Invitational<\/strong> at the grass strip.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Evening:<\/strong> Enjoy the Mountain Brew Band<\/strong> at the Campground (6 PM \u2013 8 PM).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Thursday, April 16: MOSAIC Day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      • Theme:<\/strong> Focused on the FAA\u2019s new MOSAIC (Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification) rules.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • What to do:<\/strong> Attend MOSAIC-specific forums at the Paradise City Forum<\/strong> starting at 10:30 AM.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Afternoon:<\/strong> High-energy warbird performances and the Full Throttle Formation Team<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Friday, April 17: Military Power<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • Highlights:<\/strong> The heavy hitters arrive. The USAF Thunderbirds<\/strong> and the USN F-18 Rhino<\/strong> Demo Team typically ramp up their routines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • What to do:<\/strong> Visit the Career Fair<\/strong> if you are looking for opportunities in aviation, or catch the Ghostwriter Airshows<\/strong> meet-and-greet at 12:00 PM at Aerobatic HQ.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Saturday, April 18: The Grand Finale<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Highlights:<\/strong> Two airshows in one day! The day show is followed by the famous Night Airshow<\/strong> featuring the “Tora” bomb squad, drones, and massive fireworks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • What to do:<\/strong> Visit Choppertown<\/strong> for helicopter-specific displays or the Florida Air Museum<\/strong> (9 AM \u2013 5 PM).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            Sunday, April 19: Family Day<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • Highlights:<\/strong> The final full performance by the USAF Thunderbirds<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • What to do:<\/strong> Great for families to catch anything they missed. Most exhibits close early (around 4 PM), and the show wraps up after the final airshow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              \n\n\n\n

              \ud83d\udca1 Pro-Tips for Your Visit<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              • Hydration:<\/strong> Lakeland in April can be very hot; take advantage of the Family Oasis<\/strong> for cooling stations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Ear Protection:<\/strong> Essential for the military jet demos (F-22 and Thunderbirds).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              • Wednesday Change:<\/strong> Remember that there is no 1:00 PM airshow on Wednesday<\/strong>\u2014it all moves to the evening!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                The Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo 2026 is set to take place from April 14\u201319 at the Lakeland Linder International Airport. This year features a significant change to the mid-week… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"7254","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDRcL2Rvd25sb2FkLTEwLndlYnA_Zml0PTI4NSUyQzE3NyZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkFpciBzaG93IHNjaGVkdWxlcyBhbmQgd2hhdCB0byBkbyBhdCBTVU4gJiM4MjE2O24gRlVOIDIwMjYsIGRheSBieSBkYXkiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.vzc8ezs02DTX0zcodnVILO2XT_Meup_LpZguuTK8qWwMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA0XC9kb3dubG9hZC0xMC53ZWJwIiwidHh0IjoiQWlyIHNob3cgc2NoZWR1bGVzIGFuZCB3aGF0IHRvIGRvIGF0IFN1biAnbiBGdW4gMjAyNiwgZGF5IGJ5IGRheSIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.xxTMaDKfz6h3omzqZCIhuV_h3-xOaOLY8BR8DG5oYakMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[7254],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sun-n-fun"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64672"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64690,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64672\/revisions\/64690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}