August 26th - 27th
The BBMF Lancaster
This is a free seaside airshow in the North Wales coastal resort of Rhyl, organised by Denbighshire Leisure Ltd., an arms-length company established by the Denbighshire County Council to manage leisure attractions and events.
In common with many airshows, the 2020 event had to be cancelled because of the Covid-19 outbreak. The Managing Director of Denbighshire Leisure had hoped that the 11th Rhyl airshow in 2021 show would go ahead “bigger and better than ever”. However, regrettably, the organisers decided to cancel.
The show was back for 2022 with a strong RAF presence. The show was headlined by the Red Arrows and also had displays by the Typhoon and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, although the display by the Red Arrows had to be cut short on Sunday, when Red 6's aircraft suffered a bird strike which smashed his canopy. He made an emergency landing and was unharmed.
The flying list and proposed schedules for 2023 are in the tables.
| Proposed schedule (subject to change) | |
|---|---|
| Saturday | |
| 14.00 | Swordfish |
| 14.30 | Harvard |
| 15.00 | BBMF Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane |
| 15.30 | Calidus Autogyro |
| 16.00 | Strikemasters |
| 16.30 | Red Arrows |
| Sunday | |
| 14.00 | Strikemasters |
| 14.30 | Starlings |
| 15.00 | BBMF Lancaster, Spitfire, Hurricane |
| 15.30 | Harvard |
| 16.00 | Calidus Autogyro |
| 16.30 | Red Arrows |
| Aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Flying | |
 | Red Arrows |
 | BBMF Lancaster 'PA474 Leader' |
 | Supermarine Spitfire (BBMF) |
 | Hawker Hurricane (BBMF) |
| Strikemaster pair, G-SOAF and G-RSAF | |
 | Fairey Swordfish Mk I G-BMGC 'W5856' (Navy Wings) |
 | Calidus Autogyro G-DISP (Peter Davies) |
 | The Starlings Aerobatic Team (Extra 330 and CAP 232) |
| Harvard Mk IV (Navy Wings) | |
| All appearances are subject to technical, weather and other constraints | |
Use Sat Nav LL18 3AF until you get close, but ignore the sat nav in favour of local directions signs as soon as you see them. Click the blue button for Google's directions.
There are links to other route planners in the Travel Advice section.
It is best to book as far as possible in advance. This is not only because nearby hotels and guest houses tend get booked up well before the date of an airshow but also because prices can be better when you book early online.
There are plenty of booking agencies. We find that many of the well known ones are better at finding hotels from international or larger UK chains and may suggest hotels in main towns or cities quite a distance from the show site.
There is a Premier Inn hotel in Rhyl and another about 3 miles away in Rhuddlan.
Travelodge have a new hotel on Rhyl seafront and three other hotels within 15 miles.
Click any of the blue names to go to the corresponding web site. The links already have the location built in, but please check, and change as necessary, the dates, number of rooms and number of guests.
The Met Office 7-day forecast includes actual and "feels like" temperatures, the likelihood of rain, wind speed, wind direction, wind gusts and visibility: the latter can have an impact on the viability of displays.
The BBC's 14-day forecast has overall conditions including and hourly estimate of temperature, wind direction, wind speed and UV range.
Click the blue-text link to go to the forecast. The location is already built into the links.