Scarborough Prepares For Its Biggest Armed Forces Day And Air Show

Scarborough is set to host one of the UK's largest Armed Forces Day events, featuring a packed schedule of air displays, parades, and military celebrations along the coast.

Scarborough is preparing to host a major Armed Forces Day celebration, with organisers promising the biggest air show the town has ever seen. The event will feature a full day of activities, bringing together military personnel, veterans, and the public along the Yorkshire Coast.

One of the organisers, Major John Senior said:

"Scarborough and North Yorkshire very much get behind this event. The event's become probably one of the largest in the UK to be honest. So, this begins the week of of celebrations of past, present, and future, celebrating the military and the Armed Forces, but also throwing open Scarborough's doors. So, we would invite the Armed Forces, come over here, the families come over here, and enjoy a really good day out here in Scarborough on Saturday. And we have a special bundle of extras for them and we have free ice creams for the children, sticks of rock, and a kind of a passport of activities around the resort specifically for military families. So, I would ask them, you know, come over, be well and you'll have a wonderful day here in Scarborough. It's going to be the biggest air show we've had, actually. So, a really exciting day. We've got the bands and the the military paraphernalia and everything else. So, it's going to be a really superb day and come along, enjoy it."

The day will begin at 11am with a welcome from the Scarborough Town Crier in the formal area. This will be followed by the first air display of the day, an RAF Chinook flypast at 11.30am and an RAF Tutor T Mark 1 display ten minutes later.

The formal opening will take place from 11.55am until 12.30pm. The ceremony will feature the Scarborough Town Crier alongside the chairman of North Yorkshire Council, Councillor David Chance and Commander Thomas Knowles, the Naval Regional Commander of Northern England and the Isle of Man, who will be reviewing the standards. The Yorkshire Volunteers Band will also perform a display during this time.

Throughout the afternoon, visitors can enjoy a variety of performances and displays. The Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioners Pace Stick Team will perform at 12.45pm, followed by the Royal Air Force Cadets display of banner drill at 1pm, and the Scarborough Sea Cadet Continuity Drill Display Team at 1.15pm.

A Calidus Autogyro air display is scheduled for 2.30pm and the Scarborough Sea Cadets will perform a band performance at 3pm. A Hawker Fury, a relative of the famous Sea Fury, will take to the skies at 3.30pm, before the East Riding Pipe Band performs at 3.45pm. The final air display, featuring the RAF Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4, will take place at 4.05pm.

This Is The Coast will be part of the action, with a marquee located on Foreshore Road, just a hundred yards away from the Lifeboat Station on the beach.

Flight Officer Liam Cromack said:

"We'll have a stall down at the Armed Forces Day, yeah, on the sandside, opposite roughly the Newcastle Packet. We'll be displaying what we do. We've got a tombola. We've got various souvenirs and gifts to give out. And then towards the end of the day, we'll get involved in the final parade with the rest of the cadet forces and military veterans. We do get a lot of interest because it's something new for kids as well. They see the uniform, instantly it's like, "Whoa, what's that? What's that about?" So, they come and ask us and I mean, we do all sorts with cadets, they go flying, gliding, shooting, adventure training, camps, there's actually hundreds of stuff that they can get involved in, it's great for the kids growing up."

The event will conclude with the Standards, Veterans, and Cadets Parade, which steps off at 4.20pm, led by the Queen's Own Yeomanry and Yorkshire Volunteers Band. A review of the parade will take place in the formal area at 4.30pm, with the closing ceremony beginning at 4.45pm before the event finishes at 5pm.

In addition to the seafront activities, Naval Warfare will return for the summer season with a special battle at 3pm in Peasholm Park in Scarborough's North Bay.