Snowbirds’ White Rock show on track for Aug. 12
Published 12:40 pm Monday, May 25, 2026
The iconic Canadian Snowbirds may not be back in the air for a few years once the 2026 show season wraps up, but that news – delivered earlier this month – does not change their scheduled performance over White Rock this summer.
“It was booked before the announcement,” Scott Harrold said Friday (May 22) of the Aug. 12 Wings Over White Rock event.
“And we’re pumped for it.”
Harrold – a White Rock resident whose history with the Snowbirds dates back some 30 years – said his phone was “on fire” with calls following news reports on the federal government’s May 19 announcement that the Snowbirds will not fly again until the early 2030s, until new aircraft could be commissioned.
While “grounded” was used in many of the reports, Harrold said a more accurate – and appropriately less ominous – term for the development would be “sabbatical,” as the pause is not prompted by mechanical failure, disaster or any other negative circumstance.
In the announcement, National Defence Minister David J. McGuinty said that the CT-157 Siskin II (the RCAF’s designation for the Pilatus PC21) is to be purchased for the future Snowbirds team, replacing the Canadair CT-114 Tutor.
The Tutor first entered service with the RCAF as a jet trainer in 1963. The Snowbirds have been flying since 1971.
Harrold said this year’s show over Semiahmoo Bay – though noted in the ’birds online schedule to be a mere flypast – will be a full one, starting around 5 p.m. and lasting around 45 minutes. It’ll be the first full show for White Rock since COVID put a damper on large gatherings.
The performance will no doubt evoke feelings of patriotic pride tinged with sadness among those who turn out to take it in. Retiring the fleet is “kind of a turning the page on aviation history,” said Harrold.
An additional sad note comes from the recent passing of CH.I.L.D. (Children with Intestinal and Liver Disorders) Foundation CEO and president Mary McCarthy Parsons, he added.
The daughter of Canada’s first deputy premier and CH.I.L.D. Foundation founder Grace McCarthy, Parsons died on April 9. In 2021, she told Peace Arch News the Snowbirds’ shows – for many years dubbed ‘Fly for CH.I.L.D.’ – helped raise “significant” funds for the non-profit.
“It’s one of those loves that CH.I.L.D. has always had, to be associated with them,” Harrold said.
Harrold noted CH.I.L.D. continues to benefit through Wings Over White Rock, through the sale of merchandise and on-site collection of donations.
He anticipates the August show will bring droves of people down to the waterfront – as many as 20,000 attended past performances – “just for the overall support, and the patriotism of it.”
“That’s one of the biggest things Canada has, patriotic-wise… is the Snowbirds. People just do not stop talking about it, what it means to them,” he continued.
“It’s a really Canadiana kind of entity that people seem to be really proud of. All of the politics sort of go out the window and it’s a sense of pride to watch them.”
Harrold noted a “no-go zone” will be established on the water, to keep the area below the show clear of any watercraft. As well, the airspace will be restricted, including a prohibition on the use of drones during the show – and a “huge penalty” for non-compliance.
Confident the Snowbirds will return to the skies in a few years, Harrold encouraged a big turnout for the “invaluable piece of Canadian heritage.”
“I’m really sort of proud and happy they’re going to be here,” he said.
“Let’s send them off with a bang.”
– with files from Lauren Collins
