An airshow is coming to Wildwood, New Jersey, in 2025
An airshow is coming to the Jersey Shore in 2025, but it isn't in Atlantic City. According to a Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority spokesperson, the Wildwoods Thunder Over The Waves Airshow will take place in September.
The airshow will be a two-day event scheduled for Sept. 5 and 6.
The spokesperson said the GWTA gave approval for the airshow last Thursday, and contracts are currently being signed. The GWTA will fund the airshow.
The GWTA saw an opportunity to host its airshow after the Greater Atlantic City Chamber canceled the 2025 Atlantic City Airshow at the end of the year. The spokesperson said the economic impacts were a factor behind the decision.
This will be the second straight year without the Atlantic City Airshow. The 2024 airshow was canceled after organizers said a "major act" withdrew.
Ben Rose, the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority's director of marketing and public relations, said Wildwood leaders saw an opportunity in the cancellation.
"We saw there was a need. There was a void there, and we have the means to do it," Rose said.
The Greater Atlantic City Chamber said in December it's hopeful the AC airshow will return in 2026.
"Our goal is to ensure the long-term viability of the Airshow — it is New Jersey's largest free event, a 20-year tradition, that has brought joy to hundreds of thousands of visitors and residents alike," the Greater Atlantic City Chamber said in a December 2024 statement. "We recognize the Airshow's significant role in our community and to the tourism economy, and we are steadfast in our dedication to preserving its legacy while adapting to current economic realities."
Business community looks forward to boost
Rose said contracts were signed Wednesday, and acts have committed to the event.
"We're very excited to get this airshow to kick off that second season. It's the weekend after Labor Day, and we're expecting well over 200,000 people to come to this," Rose said.
Lindsay Taylor, vice president of Madison Resorts, a new hotel in Wildwood Crest, said the air show will provide another big weekend to fill rooms and attract more attention to the property.
"Since it's now going to be in Wildwood, it just gives people a reason to come here that maybe have never been here before," Taylor said.
According to Atlantic City, its airshow pumped about $50 million into the local economy each year.
The Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce says the city is working on a feasibility study but expects the impact to be in the millions as well.
"Anytime you can bring an event that's going to put heads in beds, plates on tables, people in the stores, we love it, and we do it so well," said Tracey DuFault, executive director of the Greater Wildwood Chamber of Commerce.
Rose says the city plans to make the airshow an annual event. An all-day festival and concert on the beach has also been proposed for the same weekend, but that is still in the works.
