Of 25 listed performers in this weekend’s Chicago Air Water Show, only two involve water vessels, both of which will share the spotlight with aircraft.
A one-minute, 47-second promotional video on the Chicago Air Water Show website features plenty of planes but nary a boat.
And just try meeting up with your friends Saturday or Sunday at the “water show.” Odds are, they’ll be at the “air show” instead.
When it comes to Chicago’s signature aeronautical spectacle along the lakefront, things are much more about the aero than the nautical.
That wasn’t always so. When the show began in 1959 — as the Lakeshore Park Air Water Show, part of a Family Day celebration for children in the Chicago Park District’s day camp program — the ratio of water-to-air events was roughly opposite. Almost all the festivities were on the water.
Past events have included powerboat and lifeguard races, skiing competitions and other water-based spectacles. Jet Ski events were still held as recently as 2009, according to the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, which runs the show.
Over time, performers have shifted almost entirely to aerial stars such as the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team.
“We used to start the water portion at 9 a.m.,” said Mary May, spokeswoman for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. “We had skiers and Jet Skiers, and at that time of the morning … a lot of times the water is kind of rough and they weren’t able to perform.”
May said spectator interest also played a role, and Herb Hunter, voice of the air show since 1988, agreed.
“They found that very few people came down to watch that,” Hunter said of the water events. “Most people were coming down to get the best seats for the air shows.”
Among this weekend’s listed performances, only a U.S. Coast Guard air-and-water routine and a demonstration by the Chicago Fire Department’s air sea rescue unit will feature watercraft — both of which also include helicopters. And there’s the Fire Department’s fireboat, which will again do its spraying thing.
Today, the “water” part of the Chicago Air Water Show name is more a nod to tradition and to the prominent role the lakefront plays in the proceedings.
“Our main purpose is for the safety of the show. We’re not really there to perform,” said Commanding Officer Mark Stevens, of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Calumet Harbor station. “We enforce the safety zone keeping all the spectator boats outside of the show. That’s our main purpose. Our performance in the demo is kind of secondary.”
But there is one nautical link this year that serves to put the water a bit more in the spotlight. The naval ships in town as part of Navy Week are promoted on the Air Water Show’s website and will make for an added maritime attraction.
“We still have those water elements that they’ve always had from the first show until now,” May said. “We will always have some aspect of the water portion.”
rmanker@tribune.com
Twitter @RobManker