The inaugural Wings Over Dalton Air Show planned for May has been canceled after ticket sales to the high-flying military exhibition failed to get off the ground, according to reports.
The city of Dalton and the event promoter appeared to point the finger at each other for failing to effectively advertise the show.
The event promoter, JLC Air Show Management out of Rome, surprised city officials with a letter last month that said only 158 of 11,000 tickets had been sold, far short of the amount it would take to make a profit off the event, according to The Daily Citizen News.
“After a careful and thorough review of historical trends in advance ticket sales for similar air shows, we have made the decision to withdraw participation from the Wings Over Dalton GA Air Show,” said JLC president John Cowman in a statement. “Current sales and projections are significantly lower than what is needed to host a successful event. Given we are under 100 days until the scheduled dates for the air show, we believe it’s in the best interest of our team and other involved parties to cancel at this time.”
JLC officials said it used digital ads and news releases, but didn’t go beyond that in getting the word out to the public.
After paying about $50,000 into the show up front for startup costs, Dalton officials said they were caught off guard.
“We’re very disappointed that the promoter is pulling out of the show; it really could have been a positive for our airport and for our community,” said Dalton City Administrator Jason Parker, according to WDEF News 12 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. “We will be reviewing JLC’s accounting of the show’s expenses to be sure that they check out.”
The city may get a refund of only about $29,000 after JLC accounts for funds it spent so far on promotional materials, reports said.
According to The Associated Press, the contract for the event says the promoter, the city and city tourism officials "will use best efforts to promote the event.”
But the terms of the deal included no specifics about advertising, the Daily Citizen News reported.
"The city had run posts about the show on our social media and the airport's Facebook page, but we had not yet started a full advertising push about the show," said city spokesman Bruce Frazier.
Margaret Thigpen, director of the Dalton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the promoter “was the lead on any and every marketing effort.”
Residents have contacted city officials to complain that they didn’t hear about the show, according to reports.
“What people don’t understand is that usually when circuses and things like that come into town, they handle their own advertising," said Dalton City Council member Gary Crews, according to The Associated Press.
Dalton Mayor David Pennington said he was also surprised by the lack of advertising.
“As a small business owner, when events come to town, people usually contact me to buy tickets," he said, according to the AP.
The show, which was planned May 9-10 at the Dalton Municipal Airport, would have featured the Air Combat Command F-16 Demonstration Team and the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team.
Similarly, the 2019 Wings Over North Georgia Air Show in Rome was also canceled in August.
A website for the Dalton event states, “Sorry — The May 9-10, 2020 Wings Over Dalton GA airshow has been cancelled. We suggest our fans check-out the Oct 24-25 WingsOverNorthGeorgia.com airshow in Rome, GA headlining the USAF Thunderbirds.”
That show and another are still waiting in the wings: The Atlanta Air Show is planned May 16-17 at the Atlanta Regional Airport in Peachtree City.
About the Author
