San Francisco’s Fleet Week will go forward this month without its star attraction: the Navy’s Blue Angels.
The elite flight team, along with other U.S. military participation, has been sidelined by the federal government shutdown that began Wednesday.
The annual celebration, scheduled for Oct. 5-13, typically draws more than a million visitors and is still moving ahead with parades, concerts, waterfront festivals and neighborhood traditions across the city. International military partners from Canada and Colombia remain confirmed.
But the loss of the Blue Angels – long the event’s most dazzling draw – marks a major blow to the city’s signature fall spectacle.
The Blue Angels practice their aerial maneuvers near Alcatraz Island over San Francisco Bay as seen from the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco on Oct. 10, 2019. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
Still, organizers and the Navy left the door open. If Congress passes a funding bill quickly, military planners say the Blue Angels and other U.S. forces could potentially rejoin Fleet Week at the last minute.
“With the federal government shutdown now in effect, U.S. military participation is currently paused,” said David Cruise, public affairs officer for San Francisco Fleet Week. “Even so, Fleet Week is moving forward with confirmed participation from our international partners in Canada and Colombia, and with events taking place across San Francisco.”
Cruise added that Fleet Week has always been more than a military showcase.
“We remain optimistic that, if a resolution is reached in time, our military sea service partners will be able to join us,” he said.
In a statement, the Navy echoed the uncertainty.
“Due to the lapse in federal appropriations, the Navy and Marine Corps have temporarily paused our planning efforts for participation in San Francisco Fleet Week,” said Brian O’Rourke, media officer for Navy Region Southwest. “If there is no speedy resolution, we’ll be disappointed we aren’t able to attend this year. But planners will begin preparing for Fleet Week 2026 as early as November.”
The Blue Angels will not fly at San Francisco Fleet Week after the federal government shutdown paused U.S. military participation. (Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle)
The shutdown is expected to drag on, with no deal in sight and warnings of federal layoffs within days, according to Vice President JD Vance. About 750,000 federal employees are expected to be furloughed without pay, while essential workers will stay on the job until back pay is authorized when the government reopens.
Its impact is already being felt beyond San Francisco. On the Central Coast, the Blue Angels canceled their headline appearance at the California International Airshow in Salinas, along with practice flights and a planned media ride-along.
This year’s Fleet Week program will still feature more than 40 public concerts, waterfront festivals and the Italian Heritage Parade in North Beach. For now, the show will go on – just without the roar of Blue Angels jets over San Francisco Bay.
This article originally published at Blue Angels cancel San Francisco Fleet Week over government shutdown.
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