MELBOURNE, Fla. – It's being dubbed Runaway Air Show. This weekend, tens of thousands of folks are expected to flock to Melbourne for the Runaway Country Music Festival and the Melbourne Air and Space Show.
The events are separated by a mere 4 miles, but Runaway Country organizer Gary McCann said it shouldn't be a problem.
"It's a busy weekend for Melbourne," said McCann. "We're far enough apart and we've worked the traffic out. We really don't see one affecting the other too much."
McCann and organizers from the Melbourne Air and Space Show said this year's draw to the events is the biggest in history.
For the first time in seven years, the Navy Blue Angels will headline the air show and for the first time country superstar Blake Shelton is performing at Wickham Park.
"We have people coming now to Runaway Country from 38 states, ten countries and just about every zip code in Florida. So, it's really grown," said McCann.
With the large crowds expected comes traffic issues. Melbourne police will have beefed up staff to accommodate to make sure this busy weekend in Melbourne runs as smoothly as possible.
"They're busy with any event anyways. So, now, they have double the police force and traffic patrol out. Each one is obviously a separate event and I don't think they'll be any problems at all," said McCann.
When it's all said and done officials are expecting a combined paid attendance for both events to be in the 60,000 range.