The Swansea Air Show, Wales is one of the year’s biggest events – and 2024 will be no different. Whether you’re obsessed with planes or just enjoy the good vibes, half of the city all come down to the beach to eat, drink, listen to music and watch some of the most amazing aerobatic displays over the Swansea Bay skies.
As well as the airshow itself, there is a party atmosphere, with live music, a fun fair, food and drink stalls, shopping and armed forces vehicles and displays.
Swansea Air Show 2024 dates
The Swansea Air Show, also known as The Wales Air Show will be held over Swansea Bay on the 6th and 7th of July 2024.
Typically the show happens on a Saturday and is then repeated on the Sunday. You can of course just go to one of the days, but many people attend twice to catch displays that might have been cancelled on the Saturday due to dodgy Welsh weather, or even to get a different view.
I tend to go twice because it’s such a brilliant event and because a whole day out with little kids is a bit too much – so breaking it up works for us.
Swansea Air Show 2024 timetable
The Swansea Airshow is a long day, filled with displays. There tends to be half an hour or so between the displays, so you need a 2024 timetable to plan your time, and to know who you’re looking at.
Currently, the Swansea Air Show 2024 timetable hasn’t been released, but come back here a week or so before the big event, and I’ll get it up for you – though the timetable will be everywhere.
Swansea Air Show 2024 tickets
So, do you need to buy tickets to the 2024 Swansea Air Show, Wales? Well, no – but you can buy an upgrade to the Swansea Air Show Flight Deck.
It’s a fenced-off area, right by the Cenotaph – which guarantees you the best ‘seats’ in the house, with an unobstructed view of the flight displays.
Tickets sell out incredibly quickly – in fact, at the time of writing on June 1, the Saturday is sold out. If you want Swansea Air Show tickets for the Sunday, they’ll set you back £28.88 for an adult, and £20.48 for a child. Children under three can get in for free.
But honestly, no need to worry if you want tickets but can’t get them – there are a ton of different free options, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a bad view.
The best place to watch the Swansea Air Show
So where is the best place to watch the Swansea Air Show 2024? It depends on what’s important to you. Honestly, it’s pretty hard to find a bad spot, but I suggest…
Swansea Bay – right by the cenotaph. In fact, anywhere on that main stretch of Mumbles Road, outside all the B&Bs. You’ll be able to clearly hear the commentator giving updates, and explaining what’s happening in the skies above. There’s also music, entertainment, as well as shopping, food, bars etc. It’s where the main place.
You can sit on the wall, take a blanket or foldable chairs, and hit the beach. Don’t worry about getting a good spot – there’s loads of room, so you don’t have to panic about getting there super early.
The Secret – The Secret bar and restaurant (owned by the same people as The Lighthouse, Mumbles) is right in the centre of all the excitement on Swansea Bay. If you want a nice table, with a cold beer and good food – then you can book at table there. As you can imagine, it’s a popular place thanks to all the outdoor seating and a perfect view of the display, so contact them ASAP to make a reservation.
The rooftop bars in Mumbles – Again, if you want a good view, but with great food and drink, consider either The Oyster House, Gin or Juice or Croseo Lounge. They all have great food and open-top rooftops – and it will be a little less hectic as you’re more to the side of the action, rather directly in front of it. That said – you’ll still have a brilliant view. In fact, any bench or spot on the wall on the promenade in Mumbles is going to be great.
Or the opposite way, you could sit on the outside seating at The Observatory, which literally overhangs the beach. That would be a great location too, but it gets busy.
Townhill/Mount Pleasant or Bracelet Bay – If you want a great view, but don’t want to be around a lot of people, get up on a hill to watch the displays.
Swansea Air Show 2024 Parking
Official car parks are tiered 1 – 3 based on their distance to the event.
You can book a spot via this website, but spaces do sell out quickly. Here’s all the official info below, but would I be paying for a spot? Oh no – especially as there’s free on-street parking closer than some of these locations, which I’ll go into below.
Tier 1
Recreation Ground (Yellow car park)
- Cost per vehicle: £20
- Postcode: SA2 0AT
Swansea Civic Centre East (Orange car park)
- Cost per vehicle: £20
- Postcode: SA1 3SN
Guildhall Rotunda (Brown car park)
- Cost per vehicle: £20
- Postcode: SA1 4PE
Tier 2
Paxton Street (White car park)
- Cost per vehicle: £15
- Postcode: SA1 3SA
Tier 3
King George V Playing Fields (Purple car park)
- Cost per vehicle: £10
- Postcode: SA2 9AU
Pay-on-the-day car parks
There are also car parks that you can pay for on the day, rather than booking ahead.
Singleton Hospital (Pink car park)
- Cost per Vehicle: £10
- Postcode: SA2 8QG
Swansea University (Green car park)
- Cost per Vehicle: £20
- Postcode: SA2 8PP
If you’re going to attempt a free parking spot, I’d say the closest location would be the Sandfields, which is just behind the main event. There’s a lot of residents parking, but there are spaces. From there, move up into Mount Pleasant. There’ll be loads of space and it’s a fifteen-minute walk from all the hubbub.
Or, park on one of the roads in Sketty. Just off Gower Road, from Singleton Park, there are a load of streets with on-road parking. You can then just walk through the park down to the front.
Last year, I parked in Derwen Fawr. It’s a twenty-minute walk, but it’s free and you don’t have to mess about in all the traffic.
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