" The fact that Hendricks is a major donor to Koch's political war machine is good enough reason for many not ot attend these ABC sponsored events"

Wow. Typical liberal disciple who would rather trash the charities that receive money from this event in the name of Marxism. That is a liberal for you.

Did you forget that ABC is thriving? Last time I heard their employees get nice bonuses. And Beloit is much better off than what the UAW did in Janesville.

StoryWhat lies behind local tourism numbersSunday, June 5, 2011

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Podcast episodeRock Airfest date changedMonday, May 16, 2011

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StoryRock County 4-H Fair and AirFest coincide this yearFriday, April 15, 2011

StoryFirst test for Janesville event fee waiver policySaturday, March 26, 2011

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StoryJanesville City Council to end 'arbitrary' waiversTuesday, January 25, 2011

So if you would read the online paper which I would assume you do because you are commenting here. You would have know since JANuary! that is is coming this year.
Just a tip Air Fest returns next year!

StoryTippin tabbed for AirFestThursday, July 28, 2011

Troublemaker and others-here are some of the stories you say don't exist
StoryAirFest moves to SeptemberTuesday, May 17, 2011

I saw this coming when they (oops!) scheduled it at the same time as the fair. I felt then, and still do, that this was an oversight.
Then began the scramble ending with no major draw on a busy end of summer weekend.
If there was a quality product available I don't think there would be so much concern about the price of admission.
I like AirFEST and hope they succeed. It belongs in the early summer and better planning is needed.

youkillme, show us here the liberal companies that would support this kind of family entertainment, and it is you that has made it into a political thing. You and others may hate free trade or those who want government to tell businesses what to do and how much money they can make, I will support those businesses that support family events. And by the way, I am NOT dense, in my opinion, I saw your anti-corporate and anti-entertainment views when posted it you posted it.

There was no publicity! The show was over and done before I knew it was coming. In the past, the Gazette always seemed to provide a good deal of free publicity for the airshow. What happened?

KangarooJack: The Brazilians cancelled due to costs and and not enough in their budget to travel here. AirFEST did not change their date until they were notified by the Brazilians of their inability to attend. Date was then changed knowing that that late in the air show season, the show would be weak and competing with the fair would have been more disastrous that the show was.

Chelleandlou: "
Really? Combine the fair and airfest? First of all how would that be done? Kids will want to be at the fair not airfest and don't forget the fair affects hundreds of rock county youth, parents, and vendors. I doubt AirFest is a nonprofit. 4-H and FFA are both nonprofit organizations and provide youth with a variety of skills they will need in their adult lives such as management skills, public speaking, time management, budgeting, leadership, teamwork, etc. These organizations provide a significant foundation for the future leaders of this nation; Airfest doesn't teach them anything."

As a matter of fact AirFEST is a non-profit 501c3. It is the largest fundraiser for Wisconsin Aviation Academy a non-profit 501c3 that teaches area high school students to fly and receive their private pilot license for FREE. IT teaches communication, discipline, problem solving, responsibility, aerodynamics, weather, calculations beyond what you can imagine, just to name a few. Students aka Cadets, need to maintain am minimum C average in school, stay out of trouble and attend flight lessons a minimum of 2 days a week. These students are flying a $100,000 aircraft alone. They are learning a lot and they are actually building a future as well.

I disagree with joining the Fair and AirFEST, that just makes no sense, but please before cutting an entity, please do your homework. Thanks

I'll bet the teachers could afford to go.

Also note, Southern Wisconsin AirFest has a Facebook page, and you can also subscribe to the email list on their web site. Updates were sent through both services regularly. If you are interested in AirFest, there really is no excuse for not knowing what was going on.

I suspect advertising might have been reduced when they couldn't get a big act. Just a guess. If they still had money left over to donate, then the event was a success.

There's lots of density here. There are some folks who would politicize the education of our children. Some folks think if you support public education then you support teachers and if support teachers than you support labor unions and if you support labor unions then you support democrats and so on. I agree it's terrible logic but Walker, Koch and the Fitzgerald Brothers and their supporters think it's the way to go. Enjoy.

chelleandlou; it is just a plot by the Walker regime to infiltrate your childrens minds with visions of radical flying monkey visions and stuff. I heard this from the Janeville leftist movement.

Really? Combine the fair and airfest? First of all how would that be done? Kids will want to be at the fair not airfest and don't forget the fair affects hundreds of rock county youth, parents, and vendors. I doubt AirFest is a nonprofit. 4-H and FFA are both nonprofit organizations and provide youth with a variety of skills they will need in their adult lives such as management skills, public speaking, time management, budgeting, leadership, teamwork, etc. These organizations provide a significant foundation for the future leaders of this nation; Airfest doesn't teach them anything.

DwightKSchrute - These are the same folks that were going to boycott Alliant Energy because of politics as they continued to announce this while using their powered up computer in their powered up home. Rocket science at it's best.

Big article in the Gazette telling us the date was changed. I did not notice as many banners on the Gazette this year to advertize. It happens EVERY year. GOOGLE it if you really want the info. You can comment on here just fine I am sure you can google "airfest 2011 janesville wi"
Hey the fair is ALWAYS the last week of July in case they don't advertize this year.

http://www.gazettextra.com/weblogs/lates...
lots of info for those with "nothing to do" as well.

I'm not surprised, I said as much when they announced the date change. Kids are back in school, summer is over there's too much going on. Had it been at around the usual date we may have gone. I really had no interest in it once school started and neither did my daughter.

A company donates to a political cause, that same company sponsors an airshow, therefore that airshow is now a political event?!?!?!? That is terrible logic.

Poor advertising I didn't even know it was going on until I heard one of the planes. My son told mom I think the air show is this weekend ususally I get an email from going the years before but nothing. I think they should go back to august and have them. Plus there were a lot other activites going on so that could be why the crowd was low too . Maybe they will learn from this and do better next year!

Zoom is right. You could have purchased a ticket while in line, online, for $15 or stopped at Culvers on the way in and gotten a $15 ticket... You can't make it much easier than that. For someone who decided to go at the last minute without checking online or doing any research at all deserves to pay more. As far as bringing water in.. everybody was allowed to bring in a personal water supply. What was NOT allowed is a case or more of water to be sold in the parking lot. The website should have reflected that as it did in previous years. The website was woefully wrong and uninformative. For the record, the price was NEVER $4 or $5 a bottle. The vendors control the price and I have been to a LOT of venues in the past 5 yrs and I notice the water price at every event and $3 is not uncommon. Don't buy it and the market will set the price lower the next time. I also agree the event was under publisized and under marketed. Maybe it's time for Tom Morgan to hand the event back to Julia Dacy who did a better job with very little staff, just a LOT more organization!

You could buy a ticket on line at least a day before the show, if not the day of the show, for $15. It's kind of funny that folks posting comments here ON LINE wouldn't know that.

I have always wanted to go but the price for tickets is way too much for me. Would have loved to take the grandkids but I will have to watch from afar or find a place that encourages families to come out instead of just profits. If there were incentives such as family packages the attendance would be up.

freedomfighter608, you are either dense or completely uninformed. My comment at 10:26 had absolutely nothing to do with aviation. ABC Supply could have been sponsoring a car show, a boat or a gun show, it would have made no difference. The fact that Hendricks is a major donor to Koch's political war machine is good enough reason for many not ot attend these ABC sponsored events. I know of two families who did not go to the show for the reason I stated and I also realize many might go to the AirFest just to support their political cause. I didn't turn a simple airshow into a political event - Hendricks did.

$25 to get in, $4 water....lol. Duh.. I wonder why attendance was down. Water shouldnt cost anything, especially with extortion admission prices. Surprised they didnt charge for the air you breathe also.

The air show 'snuck-up' on me this year - with little advertising and no publicity. It's almost like the air show was on 'auto pilot' this year.

I was there on Sunday. If it wasn't for the F-18's being there (they only flew one as it was), the show wouldn't have been worth going to and my tickets were $5. On a positive note, the lines to see the performers and the Navy pilots were very short. Easy to get pics and autographs.

You don't have to have an MBA to figure out why this failed. You can't charge that price without the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds and expect a large attendence. I also think this should be earlier in the summer as well. A few comments already posted about conflicts with youth sports supports that issue.

Mouse - Right because comparing the Blue Angels to a baby buggy is a realistic comparison. Your lack of education never seizes to amaze. If it wasn't free, I'm assuming you wouldn't understand.
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Do you have any suggestions on how to improve the lack of attendance?
I really like Clairvoyant's idea with the fair combined.

spark...... next you will be telling us that a single Red Devil operating a baby buggy was the draw at the Labor Day Parade.

Janesville isn't happy if stuff isn't FREE for them. Get over it. Stuff ins't free! If you keep having more kids of course things will cost more for you. Yes $4 water stinks but they have an event they can make some money at. Of course Janesville doesn't like people to make money either!!

MAybe it was down because of 9/11? Lots of people are weird and scared to go outside today?

BeenThereDoneThat
Sep 13, 2011 at 8:36 p.m.
Suggest removal

The airfest priced itself out of the market. $50 for two people attend is utterly ridiculous! My husband and I spent an afternoon doing a lot of other things that were just as fun and spent a lot less money!

sorry I disagree here. $25 for a whole day of entertainment is not bad. If you go to the Dells it is 20-25 for boat tour and that is only 1 hour. 9-15 for other things that are under 1 hour.

For $25 you can play 18 holes of golf and watch for free!

We went the last three years and were out of town. If we were home we may have skipped it this year. The weather was awesome though!!
Maybe people think "summer is over" now that school started. Mindset of nothing more to do?

Lets combine the 4H fair and Airfest into one summer bonanza. Have it on the airport site and charge $25.00 for a season pass. The Blue Angels,country and rock music,rides for all ages and some nice little animals. Run it four days and watch the greatest show in Rock county.Someone will have to work out the logistics with Mr.Morgan ?

I didnt go, but im guessing the show was pretty weak. Because last year I heard jets flying around all day by my house, seen quite a few, Seen all sorts of planes flying in. This year I didnt hear anything or even see any flying in. I live near Oak Hill Cemetary.
Weak show = weak attendance. duh.

JvlBorn - When you don't have a huge act like the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds, it's going to hurt. A majority of people that I spoke to, went in the past just because of that. I agree it's difficult with weekends during school, etc and should go back to summers.

Lack of advertising? I couldn't throw a stick without seeing the advertising, being a loyal Gazette reader.

Lineup? It's basically the same every year - a bunch of loud old barnstormers, a parachute act, the jet truck, etc and yes, a random jet team. Granted there are a few with bigger names but all are impressive. I thought the addition of a musical act would help, even though I wasn't interested personally.

Weekends are hard during school due to kids' sports. We couldn't commit ahead of time but considered it at the last minute. The $10 penalty (advance vs gate) for doing so priced us right out. I think this ship has sailed in Rock County.

Leave it to Mouse and youkillme to turn this into politics. Geez, didn't you lefties know the economy is great again?! What! You don't believe everything you read? Lol.
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At least Iriss was joking with their comment.
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IMO, lack of advertising, cost, economy and not having a major performer like past hurt it.

We normally go on Friday nights when it's $20 a carload. Last year we son was super excited to see the Hot Air Balloon show and when the show ended they didn't do it..without announcing why or anything! I later figured out because it was a bit windy, but to NOT tell anyone?

This year we went to the Rockford Air Show. Paid $45 for 5 people..they were giving out free Pepsi Max samples, even a can to each person when they left, had a sprinkler for the kids, free water from Culligan, a childrens discovery play tent & more!

I think it was because there was not much advertising this year for the show. Myself and others I know didn't even know about till the weekend. Usually you hear the radio stations talk about it all the time and t.v commercials for a few weeks before hand. That might have been why the attendance was down.

Tickets were $15 if you didn't buy them at the gate - of course that wasn't well advertised. I would have gladly paid the $25 had the show actually included some well-known acts such as the T-birds or Blue Angels. I hope to see airfest back next year - just with a better lineup.

A disappointing year for air shows. Rockford lost the Blue Angels at the last minute. Janesville had no major draws and was expensive. I had planned to travel down to Scott AFB for their outstanding show, but they didn't have one this year. EAA? Around $40 per day plus travel/lodging/meals.

I didnt go because the team I wanted to see (Brazilian Air Force Smoke Sqdr) cancelled after the airshow people decided to move the date because of the 4H fair).

Prices are just insane also. as said before, 100 deg and $4-5 for a SMALL bottle of water is pathetic.

Not to mention how hard it is to see the runway unless you happen to be lucky enough to get by the fence. How about putting in some portable bleachers so more people can see stuff like the pyrotechnics, jet truck, planes taxiing by...

And to the parents of very young children, PUT EAR PROTECTION ON YOUR KIDS!!!!! A jet spooling up is dangerously loud especially military ones.

Fee to get in was too much for us, we went to the Festival on the Rock right down the road which was free.

For a little bit more, it would have been better to go the EAA flyin and have more fun. I did not see many advertisements for it neither, so maybe next year, we will head to the EAA flyin. But then, it is a playtoy event for the Koch's Millionaire Club, and we may not be able to get in.

youkillme, I am insulted with your statement!! I have family in aviation, and I am also interested in aviation. Aircraft is NOT just a playtoy event for one of Koch's Millionaires Club. And prove to us that it is such an event, my family is not rich, but they have a couple older aircraft. So, does the EAA fit your IMO, liberal, anti-fun, eliteist ideals? Aviation crosses every spectrum of labels, and noone in aviation ever thinks that way.

I went a couple of years ago and a bottle of water was 4 or 5 bucks on a 100 degree day. They would not let us carry in anything, even for the kids. I made a promise never to return after that, I never have and you never will see another dollar of mine. I think the organizers cut their own throats with the deal. If I had them in a room I'd really like to ask them what they were thinking with their prices.

With all the extra tax money Walker put in everyone's pockets by clawing down the benefits and wages of public employees, defunding unions and dividing the state, what's not to afford when it comes to supporting a playtoy event for one of Koch's Millionaires Club?

I agree they priced themselves out. How can a family afford to attend. Make the price a little more reasonable and families just might make a day of it.

I believe it was the acts that were booked as much as anything that caused a poor turn out. Other years when the line up was big name the people came. I sure hope the organizers didn't think Tippen was going to pull anyone in regardless of the billing that he is an "aviation enthusiast". At best he would draw an average attendance to a county fair.

People saving money to be able to ask Ryan questions??????????

We didn't go because of the price. Went to Chilimania instead and had a great time for $6.00 a person. Free Chili too.

We were planning on going and then we found out it would cost us $100 to get in.

I agree that they set prices way too high. I went the first couple of years when the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels were there but my family was much smaller. There is no way we can afford to take our family of 6 now. Plus the prices for food and drinks inside are criminal.

I hope the air show doesn't continue. The people that put it on haven't a clue. I am glad that attendence was down that much. Never heard anything about Aaron Tippin being there. Seriously $25 to watch some loop de loop airplanes. Wow!!! Hey Tom Morgan, go scam somewhere else!

The airfest priced itself out of the market. $50 for two people attend is utterly ridiculous! My husband and I spent an afternoon doing a lot of other things that were just as fun and spent a lot less money!

I went Saturday and was very disappointed. I look forward to the airshow every year, but after this last show I doubt I will go again! The one thing that really honked me off was the lack of shuttles, not just the lack of buses that used to go to Blackhawk Tech, but not even small shuttles in the fields!! I have a bad knee and cannot walk very long distances without pain. We asked a young person who was directing traffic during our 2 mile trek why there were no shuttles and he said that no one recognized them as shuttles, What????
We won tickets to the show and did not have to pay to get in and I still felt ripped off! $25 bucks to get in??? That is a little much for what they offered this year.

Aside from the economy, seems as if there was some mismanagement with this years show.

I believe the $25 admission was the problem. It's why we didn't go.

I never saw any advertising in the online version of the Gazette. By the time I heard about it, I already had other plans made. I can't agree with blaming the economy for the attendance drop, I blame it on poor promotion this year. Perhaps the earlier show dates should be revisited.