Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
The skies above the Chicago lakefront will be painted green, white and red this month when the Frecce Tricolori pay an arial visit. The legendary military aerobatic team will put on a 20-minute show at 9 a.m. on July 27 above the Balbo Monument just east of Soldier Field. Their performance will coincide with the 91st anniversary of Italo Balbo’s historic flight to Chicago during the Century of Progress Fair.
“In the same vein as America’s Blue Angels, there’s nothing that says Italian pride in the sky like the Frecce Tricolori,” says Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans President Ron Onesti. “We’ve all seen them on the internet, now we can see them live in our own downtown. It’ll put goosebumps on top of goosebumps.”
The flight group will be touring the United States this summer, thanks to Onesti’s diligence. “We had been courting the Italian Air Force for three years and they finally committed to the tour,” he shares. “They were originally slated for the Chicago Air and Water Show but that was moved because of the Democratic Convention and they weren’t able to reschedule. But because of the warm relationship we developed with them, they agreed to perform while they were in the area for the Milwaukee Air & Water Show.”
The JCCIA will provide bus transportation to the show and host a reception for more than 100 Italian pilots, support staff and air force brass on July 29.
For a downloadable PDF, click here.
