Thousands of eyes were on the Penticton sky on Wednesday night as the Canadian Forces skydiving team SkyHawks put on a colorful display over Peach Fest on opening day.
The demonstration team jumped from the sky from 6,000 feet to display their signature Canadian flag parachutes, wowing the large crowd watching them at Okanagan Lake Park.
“That was so impressive, thank you,” was a common comment to the soldiers as they folded up their parachutes after the show.
A total of 12 SkyHawks jumped Wednesday, some in pairs and other jumps involving three or four skydivers.
As the crowd chanted “O’ Canada,” Canadian Forces parachutists descended with a giant Canadian flag between them.
Other SkyHawks came down with colored smoke. It was windy during the show, which made descending and landing in such a small space a challenge.
But their experience and physical fitness allowed them all to withstand the gusts of wind. The show was a huge success and a great start to Peach Fest, many in the audience said.
The SkyHawks have been opening Peach Fest for several years and have quickly become a crowd favorite.
In addition to their Sky show, the SkyHawks competed in the Peach Bin Races down Main Street that day and won the competition.
The skydiving team had practiced at Penticton Airport a few days before the show and took several members of the media out on tandem jumps.
Also on Wednesday were the Havoc Scooter Show, the Canadian Tire Motocross Show at Lakeshore and the Kim Mitchell concert.
On Thursday evening the sandcastle competition takes place at Lake Skaha.
The Peach Fest takes place from August 9th to 13th. The full calendar of events can be found at peachfest.com.
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