The highly anticipated International Ayr Show - Festival of Flight returns to the South Ayrshire seafront this weekend. 

The three-day extravaganza will include aerial displays, stalls and demonstrations, and much more for the whole family to enjoy.

Here is everything you need to know about the festival, which kicks off on Friday, September 6...

TICKETS

Entry to the event is free, but Hospitality Village passes are now available to purchase for the exclusive over-18s area within the Esplanade Gardens.

For £75 you'll be able to have access to an enclosed Hospitality Village which will offer:

  • Free buffet and soft drinks
  • Hospitality bar (drinks not included in entry fee)
  • Luxury posh loos
  • Free event programme
  • Tiered seating with an excellent view of the coast and flight line
  • Entertainment
  • Park and ride space at Rozelle Estate

For more information on this go to https://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/61713.

(Image: Paul Johnson)

LINEUP

A host of iconic aircraft will take to the skies during the main event on September 6 and 7 with aviation displays to delight every generation.

FRIDAY

  • RAF Falcons - 6.30pm
  • Vampire - 6.50pm
  • Royal Navy Black Cats - 7.03pm
  • Battle of Britain Memorial Flight - 7.18pm
  • Wingwalkers - 7.31pm
  • Jet Pitts - 7.47pm
  • Typhoon - 8.02pm
  • Airborne Pyrotechnics - 8.20pm

SATURDAY

  • Royal Navy Special Flypast - 1.30pm
  • Navy Wings Display - 1.36pm
  • Jet Pitts - 2.00pm
  • Vampire - 2.15pm
  • Aerosuperbatics - 2.28pm
  • Starlings - 2.46pm
  • RAF Falcons - 3.05pm
  • Battle of Britain Memorial Flight - 3.24pm
  • Sydney Charles Display Team - 3.37pm
  • Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130J Flypast - 3.51pm
  • Newcastle Jet Provost - 4.02pm
  • Gazelle Squadron - 4.14pm
  • Wee DRAM - 4.33pm
  • Wingwalkers - 4.50pm
  • United States Air Force CC-130J Flypast - 4.45pm
  • Royal Navy Black Cats - 5.08pm
  • Gnat Pair - 5.22pm
  • Typhoon - 5.37pm

(Image: Charlie Gilmour)

PARKING

South Ayrshire Council is providing a number of paid car parks in and around Ayr for visitors to the festival.

These are Ayr Racecourse, Seafield and Rozelle Estate, and at Blackburn Drive for blue badge holders only.

Bookings close at midnight on Thursday, September 5 for parking on Friday, September 6, and at midnight on Friday, September 6 for parking on Saturday, September 7.

You may still be able to book your online parking on the day, but this cannot be guaranteed. 

If available, these spaces will be charged at a higher rate of £5 extra on top of the book in advance price and will be payable at the carpark.

PARK AND RIDE

To reduce congestion in the town and ensure smooth travel to and from the event, Stagecoach will operate a park and ride shuttle service in partnership with South Ayrshire Council.

This service will operate frequently during the event, making it the easiest way to access the show.

The shuttle service schedule will be Friday, September 6 between 2.32pm and 10.30pm, and Saturday, September 7 between 10.30am and 9.30pm.

One of the park and ride locations is Ayr Racecourse, with pickup locations on Craigie Park, Craigie Road and Ayr Esplanade.

Drop-off locations are Craigie Park, Craigie Road and Charlotte Street.

The Rozelle Park park and ride will only operate on Saturday, September 7, with pickup locations at the bus stop outside the entrance to Rozelle Park on Monument Road and Racecourse View.

Drop-off locations are the bus stop outside the entrance to Rozelle Park on Monument Road and Seafield Crescent.

(Image: Charlie Gilmour)

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Ayr train station is under a mile from the festival site. There is a half-hourly train service between Ayr and Glasgow Central with a journey time of just over 50 minutes. On the weekend of the event, there will be increased carriages on this route. 

Stagecoach is the local bus operator and runs bus services into Ayr and the town centre from surrounding areas and further afield. Bus timetables can be found on the Stagecoach website. The bus station is 0.4 miles from the festival site.

FESTIVAL VILLAGE

There is some top entertainment and activities lined up at the Festival Village at The International Ayr Show – Festival of Flight on both days.

You can look forward to a Rafale aircraft simulator, laser tag, a fun fair, STEM marquee, military village, food and drink stalls, aviation-themed crafts, model and classic vehicle displays, plus much more.

Entry is free, and the village is open from 4pm until 8.30pm on Friday, and from midday until 6pm on Saturday.

(Image: Charlie Gilmour)

SUNDAY FUNDAY

A fantastic variety of free, fun activities will be set up across Ayr town centre for families to enjoy on Sunday, September 8.

The fun day will round off an action-packed weekend for the the International Ayr Show Festival of Flight.

At Ayr Central from 12pm to 4pm, there will be a range of family friendly crafting activities where children can make their very own aviation themed crafts, working with creative clay, paper craft, and more.

There will also be a Play-Doh play area and an airport play area to get their imaginations going.

A selection of aviation themed films which have been curated by the Ayr Film Society will be showing all day at Ayr Town Hall, catering to all age groups.

From 1.30pm to 3.50pm, the family comedy Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, will be shown, followed by the family drama, Paper Planes, from 4.15pm to 5.50pm.

Finally, the drama thriller, Sully: Miracle on the Hudson, will play from 7pm to 8.40pm.

At The Cutty Sark Centre, you’ll find a farmers’ market from 9am to 2pm, and from 12pm to 4pm you can experience for yourself what it’s like to fly under the Erskine bridge in a Cessna light aircraft or take off from any airport across the globe with the Glasgow Science Centre Flight Simulators!

The Glasgow Science Centre will also be bringing the Powering the Future on Tour exhibition to The Cutty Sark Centre, with interactive hands-on exhibits.

Also courtesy of The Glasgow Science Centre, BodyWorks will be on tour in The Grain Exchange.

The Grain Exchange will also host an exhibition with murals of Tom Gilfillan taken from the main lounge of Orangefield House, Prestwick Airport and photographic images from the council's local history collection.

Full details about the Sunday Funday are available on the Destination South Ayrshire website at destinationsouthayrshire.co.uk/ayrshow/sunday-funday.

LIVESTREAM

PlanesTV will return to the International Ayr Show - Festival of Flight to capture all of the aerial displays as they take to the skies.

PlanesTV is a specialist aviation broadcaster established in 1989. The PlanesTV team cover airshows all over the world and are experts in live broadcasting aviation events.

Over the last three decades, the company has recorded thousands of hours of high-quality aviation video footage, featuring over 300 aircraft types.

The team will broadcast all of the flying action from the airshow on YouTube, so if you can’t make it to the festival in person you’ll be able to watch live.

You can watch Friday night’s live stream at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3R_pvi0NkM.

And Saturday’s action live at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ed4MtyoQk.

Or, if you miss the live stream, you can catch up later on their channel youtube.com/planestv.