<p><a href="mailto:stephanlj@interlochen.org"><em>By Linda Stephan</em></a></p> <p>After a four-year hiatus, the Blue Angels will return to Traverse City in a year-and-a-half. The Navy air show is scheduled to perform for the 2014 National Cherry Festival, says festival Director Trevor Tkach.</p> <p>"It's just a great thing. We're the National Cherry Festival. We want to have national caliber entertainment and I think this is how we prove that - by having a group like this," he says.</p> <p>Tkach says the show elevates the cache of the festival, the cherry industry, and the region as a whole.</p> <p>Traverse City had been on the Blue Angels' schedule every other year through 2010. But in 2012 the group show did not come to Traverse City, performing instead at a centennial celebration of the War of 1812 on the east coast.</p> <p>Festival leaders say it was not clear whether Traverse City would get back on the schedule for 2014. Tkach says military air shows have been facing budget cuts and some aircraft have been grounded.</p> <p>"Things like A-10s that had traditionally been in the air show were not available, and so we weren't sure what that would mean moving forward," Tkach says.</p> <p>The festival got word Tuesday that the show is back on in 2014. The Navy sets the schedule a year in advance.</p>
Blue Angels To Visit National Cherry Festival In 2014
