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(Image Credit: Grande Prairie Regional Airshow)
By Nathaniel Leigh
Airshow 2026

Grande Prairie local participating in 2026 Grande Prairie Regional Airshow

Jul 31, 2026 | 6:01 AM

The Grande Prairie Regional Airshow returns this weekend.

Various aerial performers will be hitting the skies Saturday, Aug. 1, and Sunday, Aug. 2, for the second time since the show’s revival in 2024.

A major highlight will be the military aerobatics Snowbirds team, which will include Grande Prairie’s own Captain Iain Muir.

“First year on the team,” Muir says. “Getting here has been about five or six years flying in the military. I got my degree in aerospace engineering and started flight training in the military, which puts you back and forth between bases. I got the opportunity to come teach at the school in Moose Jaw, and that’s how I got enough hours, ejection seat time, and high-performance time to be able to try out for the team.”

This will be Muir’s only year with the Snowbirds team for the near future, as the team will be grounded from 2027 to 2030 while the aircraft are replaced.

“The fact that they’ve been flying in the forces for 60 years is pretty special,” he says. “They are good aircraft, great for formation, and we get to show them off to the Canadian public. It’s kind of pride in how the military has worked with Canadian industry to make such a great aircraft.”

Muir says he’s very excited to fly the 7-7 Jet, the one on the outer left wing of the formation above his hometown.

“When I was thinking about trying out for the team, it was just a daydream that maybe someday, I’d get to fly an airshow in my hometown,” he says. “And when the boss came back from where they figured out where all the air shows are going to take place and when to schedule them, and he mentioned Grande Prairie, I got very excited.”

Airshow marketing director Devon Potter says they have several other performances taking to the skies this year.

“The Canadian Armed Forces Skyhawks—that’s our military parachute team, so we’re very excited to have them,” Potter says. “We have a CF18 tactical demonstration that’s going to take place. We have the Royal Edmonton Regiment and the South Alberta Light Horse that are going to be doing a section attack as well on the airstrip, so that’s going to be pretty neat.”

Potter says the event will also feature plenty of interactive activities and attractions on the ground as well as in the sky.

“Planes that you walk right up to, look inside of, some of the pieces of those from the engine, and things like that,” she says, adding “We’ve got Keith Harris’s freestyle motocross coming back. We’ve got a train ride; we’ve got an obstacle course for young kids. And so, it’s just going to be that whole approach again.”

She says there have been some small improvements to the event based on public feedback from the previous year.

“The grounds layout is similar, but with a few adjustments that we thought were necessary,” she says. “And as we say, there are new performers coming out. It’s just a little bit bigger and better than the last one. So, we are very excited.”

The airshow goes Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Grande Prairie Airport.

by Nathaniel Leigh