DeLand Cancels January Show, Resets For Fall

COVID-19 has taken down another regional airshow, as the DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase, which had already rescheduled from December to January, has made the "tough call" to further push back the event into fall of 2021. Specific dates have yet to be determined.

"It's been heartbreaking," DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase boss, Jana Filip, said in a statement. "We gave it every chance to happen, but conditions simply will not allow the proper measure of safety at this time ... or in the near future." The organizers feel that "with Florida COVID-19 numbers on the rise, limitations on national travel and severe limitations on international travel, as well as potential sponsor companies with their own travel bans, the DSAS effort was simply too improbable to take a chance on."

Still scheduled for Jan. 30 is a one-day "Fly and Drive" event co-sponsored by automaker Tesla and featuring DeLand's EAA Chapter 635's monthly pancake breakfast with seating outside under the verandas. DeLand's organizers say that if the one-day event is well attended, it might try a series of them leading up to the November big show.

"DSAS21 will happen ... I'm sure of it," says Filip. “But we need more time and better safety resources so that we can provide the best possible kind of Showcase while making sure that safety remains a primary focal point."