Featured Snippet: The Pacific Air Show returns to Huntington Beach October 2 through 4, 2026, with gates at 9:00 a.m. and flying from approximately 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Show Center sits on PCH between Twin Dolphin Street and Beach Boulevard. Viewing is free from public beach, with tickets starting near $20.
The Pacific Air Show is free. That part still surprises people.
You can stand on the sand, look up, and watch the Thunderbirds pull vertical over the water without spending a dollar. What is not free, and what will absolutely wreck your Saturday if you plan it wrong, is parking. And this year there’s a wrinkle in the parking situation that most guides are going to miss completely.
Here’s the deal. I’ve lived in Huntington Beach for 35-plus years. I’ve watched this thing grow from a good idea into the largest attended air show in the country. I’ve also watched a lot of people burn two hours circling Main Street for a spot that was never going to exist. So this is the version I’d give a friend.
Pacific Air Show 2026: The Quick Facts
- Dates: Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4, 2026
- Gates open: 9:00 a.m. daily
- Flying: Roughly 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily
- Show Center: Pacific Coast Highway between Twin Dolphin Street and Beach Boulevard, directly across from The Waterfront Beach Resort
- Event address: 21351 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
- Cost: Free from public beach. Ticketed zones start around $20.
One thing worth knowing up front: the show does not publish a performer schedule in advance. They email it to newsletter subscribers the morning of each day. If you want to know when the Thunderbirds fly, sign up beforehand. That’s the only way to get it.
Something Big Is Happening This Year
2026 is the tenth year of the Pacific Air Show in Huntington Beach, and the show is treating it accordingly. It’s also partnering with America250, the congressionally chartered organization leading the national commemoration of the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary. That connection brings the NASA Freedom 250 F-5 Formation Team to the beach.
The headliners are back. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds return in the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds bring their nine-jet CT-114 Tutor formation after owning the show last year. Add the USAF F-35A Demo, the Navy F-35C Demo, the EA-18G Growler, the F/A-18 West Coast Rhino Demo, the NORAD Interdiction Demo, and a Heritage Flight pairing modern airpower with a WWII P-38 Lightning.
Then there’s the heavy metal. This year’s lineup includes the USMC MV-22 Osprey, a KC-135 Stratotanker, a USAF C-17 Globemaster III, and, for the first time, the Royal Air Force’s own C-17 flown across the Atlantic to join. A C-17 weighs 585,000 pounds and it fills your entire field of view coming down the shoreline. There is no fence, no runway, no distance. Just sand and a very large airplane.
Rounding it out: the Goodyear Blimp, the Red Bull Skydive Team, Aaron Fitzgerald flipping a BO-105 helicopter upside down, French inventor Franky Zapata on the Flyboard Air, Luke Czepiela doing short takeoff and landing work off the sand, the Lyon Air Museum’s B-25 “Guardian of Freedom,” a MiG-17, and the RAF Falcons parachute team.
The takeaway: all three days are planned to run the full lineup. Friday is not a practice day. That myth has been floating around for years and it costs people the best day of the weekend.
Free Viewing vs. Ticketed: What You Actually Get
The jets fly the length of the shoreline, which is why the free option works at all. The ticketed footprint runs roughly from Seventh Street southeast to Beach Boulevard. Anything outside that is open sand.
Free viewing, if you know where to look:
- Northwest of downtown, toward Goldenwest, Dog Beach, and Bolsa Chica State Beach. Easier parking, more room, the planes still come to you.
- Southeast of Beach Boulevard, at Huntington State Beach. You pay for state lot parking, not for the show.
- Two public tunnels run through the ticketed areas and provide access to the beachfront, so the sand is not fully walled off.
The tradeoff is real. Show Center is where the maneuvers are aimed. Sit a mile up the coast and you’re watching passes at an angle instead of head-on. You also don’t get the announcer feed, which is only available inside the fence. Matt Jolley’s commentary is a bigger part of the experience than people expect, especially if you’re bringing kids who want to know what they’re looking at.
Ticketed options and starting prices:
| Ticket | Starts at | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| General Admission | $20 | Families, bring your own chairs |
| Show Center Zone | $20 | Closest to the action, on the sand |
| Pier Seating | $85 | Elevated, unobstructed sightline |
| Premium GA | $90 | Seating included, limited shade |
| Garden Bar | $170 | Standing-room hospitality |
| Sports Bar (new for 2026) | $260 | Two-story viewing tower, Fox Sports on screens |
| Beach Club | $340 | Catering included |
| The Oasis | $3,400 (table of 10) | Groups |
| RV Camping | $3,800 (weekend package) | Front row all weekend |
Discounted concession pricing is available in GA and Show Center Zone only, for students, seniors 60 and over, veterans, and active military. Kids 4 to 17 need a ticket. Three and under get in free with a ticketed adult. A Family Pass covers two adults and two kids.
Buy only from the official Pacific Air Show site or Tixel. Those are the only two authorized sellers, and every year somebody gets burned on a resale site.
The Parking Playbook (Read This Part Twice)
This is where locals get caught.
Your annual beach parking pass does not work. The City of Huntington Beach fee schedule specifically excludes the three Air Show days from the Annual Beach Parking Permit. If you paid $195 for the year, that pass is not valid Friday through Sunday. Same exclusion applies to July 3rd, 4th and 5th.
Rates go up. The city adds $2.00 per hour to lots and meters on Air Show days, on top of the standard rate. Pier Plaza, Blufftop, First & Atlanta, Warner Avenue, Dog Beach and the PCH and Beach Boulevard meters are all affected.
And there’s less public parking than you think. Under the 25-year agreement Huntington Beach City Council approved in September 2025, the airshow operators are guaranteed the public parking spots along the coast between Seventh Street and Beach Boulevard, along with the Main Street parking structure, Pier Plaza and amphitheater lots, for the first five years of the deal. 2026 is inside that window. So the downtown lots you’d normally count on are spoken for.
What to do instead:
- Bike Valet, free. Fifth Street just south of Walnut Avenue, at The Strand. Open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday, staffed by trained attendants, no cost. This is the single best move if you live within riding distance. Ride down PCH, hand off the bike, walk to the sand.
- Get dropped off. Uber and Lyft work, but set your pickup point several blocks inland. Trying to get picked up on PCH at 4:45 p.m. with 100,000 people leaving is not a plan.
- Park inland and walk. Anything north of Yorktown or east of Lake Street will save you time even accounting for the walk.
- Fly in. Maverick Helicopters is back for year two with transfers from John Wayne or Long Beach starting at $199 per person, plus a new eight-minute Surf City Flyover from $129 that runs the coastline past the pier, Newport, Balboa Island and Corona del Mar.
If you must drive, read every posted sign. A tow on Air Show Sunday is a genuinely bad afternoon.
What to Bring, and What Will Get Turned Away
Bring: sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, a reusable water bottle (empty or with water, under 1L), low chairs or a blanket, ear protection, and a credit card. The event is entirely cashless.
Ear protection is not optional for little kids. Part of the appeal is that you feel the jets in your chest. That’s great at 40. At four, it’s terrifying. Bring the muffs.
Leave at home: drones (enforced no-drone zone), glass, alcohol, tents, large shade structures, umbrellas over two meters, and commercial takeout food. GA and Show Center Zone allow small personal umbrellas. Pier, Premium GA and hospitality areas do not, because they block everyone’s view.
Shade is essentially nonexistent on the sand. Early October in HB can still run hot. Plan for a full day in direct sun.
Locals: Here’s Your Week
If you live near the coast, the noise starts before the show does. Performers begin arriving as early as Monday, September 28, with official training days Wednesday, September 30 and Thursday, October 1. You will hear jets during daylight hours on those days.
For pets, the advice is what you’d expect and it works: keep them indoors, give them a quiet interior room, run background noise, and get their exercise in early. Talk to your vet if your dog has real noise anxiety.
On the water: during show hours the Coast Guard and lifeguards enforce a sterile aerobatic box marked with buoys. Swimmers, surfers and boogie boarders are limited to waist-deep water. Boaters get a great view but no announcer feed, and should check the Notice to Mariners before heading out.
The Insider Move: Pick Your Day
Friday is the quietest by a wide margin. Same full lineup, fewer people, better parking, shorter food lines. If you can take a half day, take Friday.
Saturday is the biggest crowd and the biggest energy. It’s also the most expensive hospitality day. If you want the full spectacle with the beach packed shoulder to shoulder, that’s your day.
Sunday splits the difference and tends to clear out a little earlier in the afternoon.
Whichever day you pick, get there before 10 a.m. The show is rain or shine, though individual demonstrations can be modified or delayed for safety.
What This Weekend Says About Living Here
Every fall, this city shuts down its coastline so fighter jets can fly a few hundred feet off the sand, and roughly a million people show up to watch. Then Monday comes and it goes back to being a beach town where you can grab a coffee on Main and be in the water by nine.
That combination is a big part of why people move here and why so few leave. It’s also why the market holds up the way it does. Huntington Beach has been running a median sale price near $1.4 million with homes averaging about 34 days on market, and demand for anything walkable to the sand stays deep.
If you’re standing on the beach this October thinking about what it would take to live within earshot of this every year, I’m happy to talk it through. No pitch. Just an honest read on what’s moving, what’s sitting, and what a realistic number looks like in the pocket you’re eyeing.
Reach out anytime at 714.374.3535, or find me on the Unlocking Huntington Beach podcast, where I break down what’s happening in Surf City every week.
See you on the sand.
Do Good. HB deserves it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4, 2026. Gates open at 9:00 a.m. daily and flying runs approximately 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Times are estimates and the final daily schedule is emailed to newsletter subscribers each morning of the event.
Yes, the flying can be watched for free from public stretches of Huntington City Beach outside the ticketed footprint. Tickets are required for the fenced precinct, which includes the announcer feed, food and beverage vendors, the Kids Zone, the NXTGN STEM Lab, and performer signing sessions.
On Pacific Coast Highway between Twin Dolphin Street and Beach Boulevard, directly across from The Waterfront Beach Resort. The event address is 21351 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, CA 92648.
The ticketed footprint runs roughly from Seventh Street southeast to Beach Boulevard. Free public sand is available northwest of that toward Goldenwest, Dog Beach and Bolsa Chica State Beach, and southeast of Beach Boulevard at Huntington State Beach. Two public tunnels also run through the ticketed areas to the beachfront. You’ll see the aircraft, but you won’t get the head-on Show Center angle or the live commentary.
General Admission and Show Center Zone start at $20. Pier Seating starts at $85 and Premium GA at $90. Premium hospitality runs from $170 for the Garden Bar up to $3,400 for an Oasis table of 10, with the new Sports Bar at $260 and Beach Club at $340. RV Camping weekend packages start at $3,800. Prices vary by day and are subject to change.
Only through the official Pacific Air Show website or Tixel. No other sellers are authorized.
Yes, in General Admission and Show Center Zone only. Concession pricing applies to students with valid ID, seniors 60 and over, veterans and active military. A Family Pass covers two adults and two children. Children 4 to 17 need a ticket; three and under enter free with a ticketed adult. Discounts are not available on Premium GA, Pier or hospitality tickets.
No. The City of Huntington Beach fee schedule specifically excludes the three Air Show days from the Annual Beach Parking Permit, the same way it excludes July 3rd, 4th and 5th. The city also adds $2.00 per hour to lot and meter rates on those days.
There is no dedicated airshow parking, and public parking downtown is limited under the current city agreement. The free Surf City USA Bike Valet at Fifth Street just south of Walnut Avenue is the best option if you can ride, open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. all three days. Otherwise, park well inland and walk, use rideshare with a pickup point several blocks off PCH, or book a Maverick Helicopters transfer.
Friday. All three days are planned to run the full performer lineup, but Friday draws the smallest crowd, has the easiest parking and the shortest lines. Saturday is the biggest and most expensive day.
Sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, ear protection, a reusable or sealed water bottle under 1L, low chairs or blankets in GA and Show Center Zone, and a credit card. The event is completely cashless.
Drones, glass, alcohol, tents, large shade structures, umbrellas over two meters, and commercial takeout food. Umbrellas are permitted only in GA and Show Center Zone. Personal chairs are not allowed in Premium GA, Pier or hospitality areas.
Yes, with limits. During show hours a sterile aerobatic box is marked with buoys and patrolled by the U.S. Coast Guard and lifeguards on jet skis. Swimmers, surfers and boogie boarders are restricted to waist-deep water. Boaters should check the Coast Guard Notice to Mariners. There is no announcer feed on the water.
Yes. Performers begin arriving as early as Monday, September 28, with official training on Wednesday, September 30 and Thursday, October 1. Expect daytime jet noise those days. Ear protection is recommended for residents and a quiet indoor space is recommended for pets.
The show runs rain or shine. Individual flying demonstrations may be modified, delayed or suspended if weather creates a safety risk. Watch the Pacific Air Show newsletter and social channels for updates.
Yes. GA Accessible tickets include entry to accessible viewing platforms and come with one complimentary companion ticket. Complimentary ADA seating is also available on the Huntington Beach Pier on a first-come, first-served basis, with one caretaker. No transportation is provided from your vehicle to the site.
