Festival Of Flight Returns To Pangborn Airport This Weekend

The annual Festival of Flight will take place at Pangborn Airport just outside East Wenatchee this weekend.

The festival is made possible through a partnership between the City of East Wenatchee and the Chelan-Douglas Regional Port Authority, which oversees operations at Pangborn.

East Wenatchee Mayor Jerrilea Crawford says there will be a lot going on during the two-day event.

"There'll be all kinds of booths and food vendors. There'll be mochi sampling and there's a Japanese drumming band that will be there performing. Of course, all kinds of aircraft will be on display, including some specialty aircraft that you can pay to take a ride in, as well as helicopter rides."

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Over 100 aircraft are expected to be on display at the Festival, including the Miss Veedol, which is a replica of the plane flown by Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon on the world's first trans-Pacific flight.

Crawford says the Festival was inspired by that historic occasion, which is central to the region's aviation history.

"We're following that tradition in recognizing our aviation history with the first non-stop flight across the Pacific, since it landed in East Wenatchee. It's definitely something that we're super proud of in our community and we want to make sure that people know that story."

The Festival begins on Friday with a free screening of the movie "Top Gun: Maverick" at around 9 p.m., and continues on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.