An air show planned since this spring took to the skies over Vancouver yesterday, surprising, delighting, and even scaring some residents.
We learned about the Italian Air Force Aerobatic Team’s flyover in May. However, a lack of a reminder from the City led to a bit of a shock for some.
“I thought it was someone’s gender reveal party for like two seconds,” one user said on Reddit in reaction to the event, but we don’t know if they’re serious.
City should have advertised this or was this meant to be a surprise?
— CanuckLove84 (@canuckLove84) July 17, 2024
In an email to Daily Hive, one reader suggested there should’ve been a warning.
“Just saw the Italian planes fly over, and nothing had warned us.”
Others blamed us.
“Media slept on this,” one user reacted on X.
“Freaked me out. They made [two] fast passes spewing the coloured smoke,” someone on Reddit said.
Another Reddit user echoed the freaked-out sentiments, “They made three sweeps near the West End.”
“Didn’t expect it at all, and it got me pretty frightened 😨,” someone else said.
Ok, it was more than one… bit of a shock and obvious why it was so loud when it’s basically a few jets blasting past your condo window!! 😳 #Vancouver #FlyOver #Jets #YVR https://t.co/ltSsn170ff pic.twitter.com/VwXKNTCTAk
— Ryan Voutilainen 🇨🇦🇫🇮 (@RyanVoutilainen) July 17, 2024
Some pets apparently weren’t big fans of the event, likely due to the noise created by the planes.
“Our cats ran in the house faster than I’ve seen them go for a while,” another Reddit user said.
Several users on both X and Reddit feared some military activity, with one person on Reddit thinking that Iran was invading “artistically.”
“It’s the new Fresh Slice aerial marketing campaign,” one Redditor joked.
Despite the fear and surprise, most residents seemed to be big fans of the display.
This was the first time the Italian Air Force, also known as Frecce Tricolori, had flown to the USA or Canada in over three decades.
“The North America Tour will be an opportunity to organize a redeployment thousands of kilometres 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 consulate general of Italy in Toronto wrote.
If you missed the event, you’ll have another chance to catch an air show at this year’s Honda Celebration of Lights.
Were you freaked out or just delighted by the impromptu Vancouver air show?