Rockford Officials Decide Fate of Annual Event

Rockford Airport officials have come to a decision on an annual event that has draw big crowds to the forest city. Will it stay?

Say goodbye to a well-attended Rockford event. Airiest 2017 has been suspended. In a "it's not you, it's me" press release, airport officials explain the tough decision is based on business needs, a double-edged sword.

Several of the new businesses we have recruited have nearly non-stop operations that make it very challenging to close the airport for four days. The traffic congestion incurred by AirFest would put a heavy burden on the operations of new businesses on the airport. Our priority is to our customers and tenants that use RFD. - Mike Dunn, Executive Director of RFD.

Adding more salt to the wound, all future Rockford Airfest events have been indefinitely suspended.

We're sad about it, too. But there might be light at the end of the tunnel, or runway. In a statement from RFD they added this,

RFD will continue to identify new opportunities for entertainment that work within the parameters of our partnerships for this region.

On a side note you can escape the frigid temperatures by flying to Cancun, Ft. Myers, Jamaica, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix, Punta Cana or Tampa Bay directly out of Rockford.