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High flying fun

Campbell River’s first skydive festival takes place Saturday
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Rob McNeill (left) flies high above Campbell River. (Tamara Szewczyk photo)

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s the first annual River City Skydive Festival.

This Saturday (Aug. 21) the Campbell River Skydive Centre will be bustling with a variety of food trucks, live music, an artisan market, and people in colourful jumpsuits leaping from thousands of feet in the air.

Organizer Rob MacNeill said the event has typically been a gathering of sky dive enthusiasts, commonly known as a boogie.

People jump from planes and helicopters during the day, and the brave (and skilled) even make the leap during the night.

“We have a lot of people that come up to watch, but there haven’t been a lot of stuff to do, other than watching sky diving,” he said.

“So we got to thinking about it. We want our business to be more about community building, so we thought – why not add an artisan market, and live music?”

READ MORE: Campbell River man and friends skydive for a cause

READ MORE: 94-year-old Gabriola Island man celebrates Father’s Day with a skydive over Parksville Qualicum Beach

Once planning got underway, MacNeill said he and the organizers invited the vintage car club to come show off their cool vehicles, and since International Busker Day takes place on Sunday, they’ve also invited some buskers to come exhibit their wild and wonderful skills too.

There will be helicopter rides for those wanting to get a birds eye view of Campbell River, as well as opportunities for those interested in take a tandem jump themselves.

A free tandem jump will also be raffled off to a lucky winner.

The festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2000 Jubilee Parkway.



ronan.odoherty@campbellrivermirror.com

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