Businesses brace for Charleston Air Show crowds, bridge closure
Charleston air show flight tests over the Charleston peninsula this week sent a clear signal to businesses along Charleston Harbor: today’s crowds are arriving with bridge closures, boat limits and a downtown parking change. The event is set to start at 1 p.m., with the Ravenel Bridge closing from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
East Bay Street staffing
At Saffron Bakery and Cafe on East Bay Street, executive chef Donovan Edwards said the staff is being built up early to handle unfamiliar crowds and the road closures that come with the show. “We’ve never actually dealt with any kind of busy time like this. So, we’re pretty much making sure we’re staffed up, you know. Make sure we have enough people here, trying to get people here early in time just in case, you know, the whatever road closure we do have coming up,” he said.
Wes Sandifer, a frequent customer, described the flight tests as they passed over East Bay Street. “It sounded like they were driving down East Bay. It was quite amazing. I mean, they almost sounded like they were just flying horizontally along East Bay,” he said. He added, “Seeing those guys, it’s truly, truly, truly a sight to be seen.”
Bay Street Biergarten seat
Bay Street Biergarten is preparing for the same crowd with a front-row view of the show. Marketing advance coordinator Maddie Martin said the practice runs brought employees outside to watch the aircraft pass overhead. “It was the amount of adrenaline that really pumps through the body. I ran outside, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ for like 10 minutes I was like, ‘Where’s my phone?’ But it’s so cool that our business is so close to the show, and having pretty much front row seats is absolutely amazing,” she said.
Martin also said, “We’re so excited for our guests to enjoy the show because the amount of adrenaline you feel with those planes going by it makes me want to get in the plane myself,” and Edwards said, “It was, it was pretty cool to see you know a lot of employees got to go outside and kind of see the airshow for free, you know, so it was awesome.”
Charleston Harbor closures
Police said there are four viewing zones for the Charleston Airshow: the Aquarium Wharf, Waterfront Park, The Battery and Demetre Park. The Ravenel Bridge pedestrian walkway is set to close at 11 a.m., downtown parking garages will have a $10 flat rate all day, much of the harbor will be closed to boats and drones face a strict no-fly zone over Charleston Harbor during show hours.
The airshow is moving away from its routine of being held at Joint Base Charleston every other year and into Charleston Harbor, where law enforcement expected crowds similar to the Cooper Bridge Run. For people heading downtown or onto the water, the practical effect is simple: the viewing areas remain open, but access around them is narrowed for most of the afternoon.
