Published on August 18, 2026

Ayr Show 2026 (The International Ayr Show - Festival of Flight)

For one weekend each September, the whole of Ayrshire looks up.

Two days. Free entry. The Red Arrows over the Ayrshire coast. What more could you want? The Ayr Show returns on 4th and 5th September 2026, and it remains one of the best days out Scotland has to offer.

Officially it's ‘The International Ayr Show - Festival of Flight’, but everyone round here just calls it the Ayr Show. It's Scotland's only major air show, and we are fortunate enough that it happens right on our doorstep. On Friday 4th and Saturday 5th September 2026, the skies above Ayr will put on a display that becomes one of the great sights of the Scottish calendar. Red Arrows, Spitfires, Typhoons, you name it, the Ayr Show will be delivering it in 2026.

Here's a local’s guide to everything you need to know for the Ayr Show 2026, including all of the key details, displays worth planning your day around, and where to grab a bite to eat when the planes return to the hangar. Let’s get stuck in.

In this article:

• Ayr Show 2026 - Dates, Location & Key Information
• What is the Ayr Show?
• What to See & Do at the Ayr Show
• Where to Eat Near the Ayr Show
• Getting Here From the Ayr Show

Ayr Show 2026 - Dates, Location & Key Information

So you just want to know the basics? We’ve got you. At a glance, here’s all you need to know about the Ayr Show 2026:

• When: Friday 4th and Saturday 5th September 2026.
• Where: Low Green, on the Ayr shorefront, South Ayrshire, Scotland.
• Times:
  • Friday runs 4pm to 9pm, with aerial displays from 6.15pm to 8.40pm
  • Saturday runs 12 noon to 6pm, with aerial displays from 1.30pm to 5.30pm
• Entry: Completely free. No tickets needed for the show itself.
  Parking: Must be pre-booked at Ayr Racecourse, Rozelle Estate (Saturday only) or Seafield. Book before midnight on Friday 28 August to save £8 per booking.
• Extras: The Friday Flightline, an over-18s area with tiered seating and a private bar overlooking the evening display, is £25 or £20 early bird.

All details are correct at the time of writing, though flying programmes do shift with weather and circumstance. We know that the beautiful Scottish summer weather can be none too dependable, so check the Destination South Ayrshire website for the latest before you set out.

What is the Ayr Show?

The Ayr Show is a free, two-day air show held on Ayr's Low Green, organised by South Ayrshire Council. And when we say big, we mean it. Recent editions have drawn in excess of 250,000 people across the weekend, which makes it one of the biggest spectator events in Scotland, never mind Ayrshire.

Flying has a long history on this coast. Air shows here date back decades, and after the event was revived in its current form in 2023, it has packed in record crowds every single year since. 2026 will be the fourth Festival of Flight, and each one has been bigger than the last. We expect more of the same for 2026, especially with the stacked roster of iconic flyovers and displays planned.

The setting itself is a big part of the appeal. We make no secret that we love Ayrshire, and the Ayr Show 2026 shows it off in its best light. The displays unfold over open water, with the hills of Arran on the horizon and the long sweep of Ayr's esplanade below. We're biased, of course. But we think there's no better backdrop for an air show anywhere in the country. Between displays, a festival village fills the green with entertainment, food and exhibitions. It's a genuinely brilliant family day out and it costs nothing to attend. What is not to love?

What to See & Do at the Ayr Show

I mean, where do we start? It’s almost easier to answer what isn’t there to do at the Ayr Show 2026. We jest, but the schedule is packed over the weekend. Flying displays, the festival village on the ground, you can easily fill both days without repeating yourself. Here's what we'd make time for. If you are extending your stay, check our guide covering all of the best things to do in Ayrshire.

The Red Arrows

Okay, of course we were going to mention the Red Arrows. You’d be crazy to miss them though. The Red Arrows display on both days of the Ayr Show 2026, trailing their red, white and blue across the Ayrshire sky. There's a reason they're the most famous display team in the world, and watching them work against a backdrop of open sea and the hills of Arran is about as good as it gets. Friday evening or Saturday afternoon, you won't want to be at the bar when they take off.

The RAF & Military Displays

It isn’t just the Red Arrows show though. As great as they are, plenty of other displays give them a run for their money. The RAF Typhoon returns, a crowd favourite in Ayr every year since 2023 and easily the loudest thing you'll hear all weekend. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight brings two Spitfires plus, for the first time at Ayr, the newly restored Douglas C-47 Dakota. Add the Chinook, the wingwalkers balancing on 1940s biplanes at 150mph and the RAF Falcons parachuting down onto the Low Green on Friday evening. Saturday has a few tricks up its sleeve as well. Expect Belgium's Bronco Demo Team and the historic Seafire, Harvard and Wasp from the Navy Wings collection to take to the skies.

The Friday Twilight Show

Friday night at the Ayr Show is one of our favourite nights on the calendar, away from our pub of course. As the light fades over Ayrshire, Airborne Pyrotechnics take to the sky with LEDs and fireworks streaming from their wings. It is as bonkers and brilliant as it sounds. And this year there's something genuinely special attached to it. Their display is set to Skyward Spirit, a newly discovered composition by late film composer James Horner, recorded by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It gets its world debut at the Ayr Show 2026. A pyrotechnics air display with a world-first orchestral score, for free. Go.

The Festival Village

Back on the ground now, and there is plenty to keep you busy over the two days. New arrivals for 2026 include a zip line, a Red Arrows flight simulator, the Cosmos Planetarium and the UK's first drone football arena. Returning favourites include the funfair, laser tag, zorb football, a dinosaur show, mini Highland Games, classic car and motorcycle exhibitions, a military village and a STEM zone. Are you starting to see what we mean about it being easier to describe what isn’t happening? On top of all of this, there's food and a bar on site to keep you going through the day. Though we'd argue the best meal of your weekend is waiting a little further south. More on that shortly.

The Friday Flightline

For those who'd rather watch the twilight display with a drink in hand and a seat beneath them, the Friday Flightline offers tiered seating, a private bar and a programme, in an over-18s enclosure on the Low Green. Tickets are £25, or £20 for early birds. If you have a date night lined up, schedule it for Friday the 4th of September and grab yourself a couple of tickets. You won’t regret it.

Where to Eat Near the Ayr Show

Straight talk now. On show weekend, Ayr town centre will be rammed. Every cafe, every chippy, every pub within walking distance of the Low Green will have a queue out the door. And look, there are some great options in Ayr, but sometimes it’s worth a short journey to find somewhere that is truly special.

Enter The Kirkmichael Arms, sat just over twenty minutes south of Ayr. The Kirkmichael Arms sits in the village of Kirkmichael, near Maybole, in the South Ayrshire hills. We're Ayrshire's only Michelin-listed restaurant. We were named Best Scottish Pub at the 2025 Scotsman Scran Awards. And we've been here, in one form or another, since 1700. Long enough to remember when the loudest thing over Ayrshire was the weather.

The food is why people make the trip. We do things the painstaking, old-style way. We smoke our own salmon, garlic, leeks and venison. We churn butter. Cure bacon. Bake bread. The finest Scottish produce, reimagined with French techniques, Asian influence and an unmistakable Scottish heart. There's no set menu, because the kitchen cooks what we've sourced and foraged in the days before. Browse an example menu to see how that looks on a plate.

At heart? We're still a pub. A dram by the log fire, a carefully chosen list of wines and malts and dogs welcome in the pub area. After a day pressed shoulder to shoulder with a quarter of a million people, it's exactly what you'll want.

Getting Here From the Ayr Show

Simple run. From the Low Green, take the A77 south towards Maybole and, just after Minishant, turn left onto the B7045, signposted for Kirkmichael and Straiton. It's around ten miles all in, a drive of about twenty minutes in normal traffic - though allow extra on show days while the car parks empty.

If you've had a drink, get a taxi. Our advice? Call Thistle Cabs and tell them you're heading to The Kirkmichael Arms - they'll come and get you and they'll get you back to Ayr at the end of the night too. We look after our guests, and so do they.

You'll find us at 3-5 Straiton Road, Kirkmichael, South Ayrshire, KA19 7PH.

Our advice on timing. Saturday's flying finishes at 5.30pm, which lines up perfectly with dinner at ours. On Friday, displays run until 8.40pm, so eat with us early, then head up for the twilight show. Or drop in after if you’d prefer, we’re open until late on Friday and Saturday.

And if you're making a full weekend of it, stay for Sunday lunch. Our Sunday carvery is an Ayrshire favourite, and was incredibly busy on the Sunday after the Ayr Show last year, so book now to avoid missing out.

Book Your Table at The Kirkmichael Arms

We're open Thursday to Sunday from 1pm, so we're open right across the Ayr Show weekend.

Book your table online, call us on 01655 750 200, or email enquiries@thekirkmichaelarms.co.uk. The whole region will be busy over the Ayr Show weekend, so we'd recommend booking as soon as you can.