Overview The Chicago Air and Water Show is the largest free-admission air and water exhibition in the United States, produced by the City's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). For one weekend in mid-August the lakefront from Fullerton Avenue to Oak Street becomes the grandstand, with North Avenue Beach as show center. DCASE puts the crowd at about 1 million people, watching from the sand, from boats on Lake Michigan and from high-rises along Lake Shore Drive. On site Performances run from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day over the water off North Avenue Beach. A full-run rehearsal the day before draws its own large crowd, which adds a bonus activation day. The footprint follows the shoreline, so activations can go big, and high-volume sampling works here. A corporate hospitality tent at show center gives guests a front-row view. Hundreds of boats anchor offshore, and with no public parking at the beach most people arrive by CTA. Audience Families make up much of the crowd. Most attendees live in Chicago and the audience leans slightly male. It is one of the city's most diverse events: Black and Hispanic attendees together make up about half the crowd. Aviation fans and boaters come for the flying, and many others claim a beach spot for the whole day. Talent and Influencers Military teams headline. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team have both flown recent shows, along with the F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team, a C-17 demo, an Illinois Air National Guard KC-135 and a U.S. Coast Guard search-and-rescue demonstration. Civilian aerobatic pilots such as Susan Dacy in her Super Stearman and the Trojan Phlyers fly between them, and Chicago Police and Fire Department crews stage rescues on the water. Track record The show has run for more than six decades and is one of Chicago's longest-running summer traditions. DCASE counts it among its biggest drivers of tourism and business for the city, and the rehearsal day alone pulls a crowd most events would envy. Brand presence American Airlines is the presenting sponsor and opens each show day with a ceremonial flyover. Supporting sponsors include ABC 7 Chicago, Capital One, the Chicago Transit Authority, Millennium Garages, The Boeing Company, WBBM Newsradio and Wells Fargo. New partners can take lakefront activation space, sampling, signage along the beach, announcements over the show PA and guest passes to the hospitality tent.