The Federal Aviation Administration will prohibit National Cherry Festival goers from watching the Blue Angels airshow at West End Beach this year in a move to increase safety. Corey did not say why the new guidelines were established, only that it was for safety reasons. Boats will be cleared of the area directly under the flight pattern, as in previous years, Kern said. This year, the beach area between about where Division Street meets Grandview Parkway west to Spruce Street must be cleared of spectators before the show will begin. The roads will not be closed, Kern said, and bike trails will remain open, but no one will be allowed to sit on the beach there during the show.
People can walk through it, drive through it, or ride bicycles through it.
If you're there and refuse to move, the airshow will not begin. Kern said FAA officials will check the area before the show starts, but it will be up to Cherry Festival ambassadors and local police to inform people not to sit at the beach. Businesses and residences in those areas, Kern said, will receive letters asking them not to allow people to watch the airshow outside their homes. The congested airspace area includes portions of East Bay and from the Tom's West Bay grocery store west to the Apache Trout Grill restaurant. The area has been expanded this year to include some homes on M-72.