Great Grand Pier Air Day Update

The running order for The Great Grand Pier Air Day in Weston-super-Mare on Wednesday 17th August has now been announced.

First to perform on the day will be the Royal Artillery Parachute Team, the Black Knights, which is the official parachute display team for the Royal Artillery. They will begin their display at 11.30am. The five parachutists, who are all serving soldiers, each with between 300 and 600 jumps experience, will arrive in a Cessna 206 aircraft and will jump into an arena, which will be specially constructed on the beach, to the North of the Grand Pier.

The Black Knights will be followed at 1.30pm by the World’s only aerobatic formation wingwalking team, the Breitling Wing Walkers. They will perform a breathtaking sequence of acrobatic manoeuvres and handstands whilst strapped to the top wings of the team’s beautiful Boeing Stearman bi-planes.

The team pilots will fly the aircraft through a well-rehearsed energetic routine of dazzling aerobatics and close formation flypasts as the wingwalkers wave at the crowd.

These manoeuvres include loops, rolls, stall turns and inverted flight. During this the wingwalkers will experience speeds of up to 150 mph and ‘G’ forces of up to 4 G.

At 3pm the Blades air display team will fly into the town. The Blades are among the World’s best aerobatic pilots, flying the ultimate in high-performance piston aircraft.

The Blades pilots are all former Red Arrows and they set up the UK’s only full-time civil formation team in 2005. One of the Blades first air displays was at the Beckham’s Full Length and Fabulous Ball. Their displays have been watched by 18 million people at over 150 venues.

Display highlights have included Her Majesty the Queen’s 80th birthday at Balmoral and the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Grand Pier owner Kerry Michael said: “I want to establish the Great Grand Pier Air Day as an annual event that people all over the country will look forward to and get the date firmly in their diaries early on in the year.

“I am delighted we have been able to secure such a varied and top quality display for our air day and I intend to build on it in future years”.

Wurzels Back To Wow The Crowds On The Grand Pier

Following the hugely successful Wurzels concert at the Grand Pier in May, the band has been booked to play again on Friday 11th November.

The last Wurzels concert on 21st May played to a crowd of over 2,000 fans in the Great Hall and was a sell out, with hundreds more disappointed. Tickets for the next concert are once again expected to sell out quickly.

After the last concert The Wurzels Tommy Banner said: “We had a fantastic gig with a crowd of over two thousand to welcome us onto the Grand Pier. We honestly did not know what to expect, because none of us could picture exactly where in the Pier they could accommodate so many people.

“However, the management and the staff did a brilliant job and when we came on stage it looked like a mini version of Glastonbury – and the atmosphere was just as amazing”.

Grand Pier owner Kerry Michael said: “The Wurzels concert was a great success so I am absolutely delighted to have booked them to play the Grand Pier again”.

Tickets will go on sale on Thursday 21st July. The first five hundred pre sale tickets will be available at £7.50 (plus booking fee) via the web link on our Facebook page.

From Saturday 23rd July tickets will be on sale at www.grandpier.co.uk or from the Grand Pier gift shops which are located on the first floor of the Pavilion building and at the shore end of the Pier.

A day to remember for Chernobyl youngsters

The Grand Pier welcomed 12 youngsters from the area of Belarus close to the Chernobyl border this week. The children come from poor communities within 20 miles of the nuclear explosion site.

The youngsters, aged between seven and eleven years old, were treated to free ride vouchers and spent the morning experiencing the thrills to be had inside the Pavilion building.

Belarus is a land-locked country, so for almost all the youngsters this was the first time they had ever seen the sea and none of them had ever visited a Pier before.

Grand Pier owner Kerry Michael said: “This is not the first time we have welcomed the Children of Chernobyl to the Grand Pier. It is great that we have now re-opened and are again able to give these youngsters a fantastic fun day out at the seaside”.

Their day trip to Weston-super-Mare included a ride on the famous donkeys, lunch at the Queenswood Hotel and a visit to the Seaquarium. The visit to Weston was organised by the Lions Club.

The children, who are enjoying a month long holiday in the UK, are staying with host families in the area. They have been brought over by The Children of Chernobyl charity, based in Wells, who have been bringing youngsters to Somerset for the past 20 years. The charity also supplies funds for village communities, hospitals and schools close to the controlled zone around Chernobyl.

John Price, Chairman of the Children of Chernobyl charity said: “We are grateful to the Lions Club in Weston for organising the day trip and to the Grand Pier for being so generous”.

Whilst the children are here they have medical and dental check-ups and there is evidence that a month in the UK strengthens their weakened immune systems.