Teignmouth Air Show cancelled for another year

The popular Teignmouth Airshow has been cancelled for another year, after last being held in 2024, due to fundraising targets not being met.

In a statement on their Facebook page the Airshow Committee confirmed that the Teignmouth Airshow will not be taking place this year.

The last Airshow was held in 2024. Following that event, the committee made the difficult decision to take a year out to focus on raising the significant funds required to host Teignmouth Airshow safely and successfully. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, this fundraising target has not been met.

We recognise that businesses, organisations, and events everywhere are facing increasing financial pressures in the current economic climate, and sadly Teignmouth Airshow is no exception. In 2024, the cost of hosting the event was in the region of £100,000. The committee personally underwrote the event after falling slightly short financially, something which is not a feasible or sustainable model for the future of the Airshow.

Our team of dedicated volunteers work tirelessly to organise every aspect of the event, including logistics, infrastructure, safety, risk assessments, stakeholder management, site build and breakdown, and volunteer coordination. When the additional pressure of raising such a substantial level of funding is added, it becomes an almost impossible task. While our team has climbed what has felt like impossible mountains in the past, volunteer fatigue is a very real concern.

It often feels implausible to say that organising the event itself has been the ‘easy’ part. However, organisation is the aspect of the challenge we have some control over, and our team has been incredibly skilled at finding solutions and overcoming the many hurdles we’ve faced over the years. Meanwhile, securing the necessary funding has proved to be the greatest challenge. The majority of funding for the Airshow has come from a small number of local businesses and supporters, who have often stepped in to cover costs at the eleventh hour. We are incredibly grateful for this generosity, without their continued financial support, the Airshow would never have made it beyond year one. However, relying on the same number of businesses and last-minute contributions is not a reliable or fair long-term funding model.

Despite this, the achievements of our volunteer committee are something we are incredibly proud of. This has never been a solo effort, we have been supported by fantastic local businesses and members of the community not just with financial support, but with providing services, donations in kind and lending advice and encouragement for our team.

This is not an outcome we ever wanted. Selfishly, we all get a huge sense of reward from seeing the Airshow take place in our town, welcoming over 30,000 visitors to Teignmouth and giving something special back to the community. We will truly miss the buzz and the atmosphere we’ve created, as well as the privilege of working with so many amazing people.

While the Airshow will not be going ahead, our volunteer committee remains committed to continuing working together in support of our local community. Any remaining funds will be managed responsibly and applied in accordance with our aims, to deliver benefit within our town. We have built an incredible group and network of people, and while we don’t yet know what the future holds, we remain hopeful that we will be able to continue doing great things for our town and are excited to see what’s next.