“Is it the Snowbirds?” I asked John as we jumped out of our seats and ran to the balcony. The formation of jets had just made their first pass over Downtown Vancouver leaving a trail of green, white, and red smoke behind them. A quick search and we discovered it’s the Frecce Tricolori, Italy’s airforce acrobatics team.
Italy’s Frecce Tricolori North American Tour
Italy’s Frecce Tricolori Jets Flyover Downtown Vancouver
The Consulate advertised the mini airshow in Vancouver a few days ago, and it’s part of a larger North American tour. They did about 3-4 passes over the city today.
The Italian Airforce Aerobatic Team (“Frecce Tricolori”), which celebrated its 63rd birthday last March 1, will fly to Canada and the United States for the first time in more than 30 years since its last mission (Columbus ’92) on a multifaceted tour that includes a series of events and fly-overs, and in which the “Frecce Tricolori” will represent Italian excellence.
The North America Tour will be an opportunity organize a redeployment thousands of kilometers away from Italy and to share the values, technology, professionalism and teamwork skills of the Italian Air Force, through a journey in stages between Canada and the United States. The Tour will also be an opportunity to represent Italy in the world and foster Made in Italy overseas. (Source)
The tour began in Bagotville, Québec to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force. On June 25th, the team flew over Parliament Hill in Ottawa in the morning and Montreal in the afternoon. They also performed at the Quinte International Airshow 2024 in Trenton (Ontario), on June 29 and 30.
After Vancouver, they’ll head over to: Edmonton on July 18th; Cold Lake July 20-21; Moose Jaw on July 22nd; Oshkosh on July 23rd; Milwaukee July 27-28; Chicago July 27th; Toronto August 2nd; Rochester August 3-4; Philadelphia and New York on August 8th; New York August 10-11; Norfolk August 21st; Washington DC August 21st; and the last airshow is over Ocean City August 24-25.
Follow the tour here and on Instagram.