If you are a first-time visitor to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, welcome! We have the world’s greatest aviation event. You won’t find a larger amount of aircraft gathered together anywhere in the world. Along with that, we have the world’s busiest control tower for seven consecutive days. EAA AirVenture is known for camaraderie and hospitality, and, as your hosts, we have some advice on how to best enjoy your time at Oshkosh. We have created a list of the most crucial things to bring and know while you spend your time here learning more about aviation.
1. Download the EAA Events App
We recommend downloading the EAA Events app, available on the App Store and Google Play, to find information about our event. On the app, you can find a map of the entire AirVenture grounds. Having the map virtually makes it easier to navigate yourself through the grounds. The grounds can get overwhelming sometimes and you may feel like you are walking for miles but having a map can help. On our app you can also find additional information about the grounds and AirVenture.
2. Comfy Shoes
The must-have for AirVenture is comfy shoes. We recommend tennis shoes or an athletic shoe for the amount of walking you will be doing.
3. Water, food, sunscreen, lip balm
There are four very important things to have for AirVenture. Please note that there are no carry-ins of alcohol and all bags will get checked at the entrance. Water is crucial when walking and enjoying all that AirVenture has to offer. Stay hydrated! We have refilling stations scattered all across the grounds. Fuel your body with food. Check out some of the best food options we have such as Chick-Fil-A, A&W, Lemon Chill carts, and many more. Wear sunscreen! It is so important to protect your skin from the sun. We recommend reapplying sunscreen every hour. Along with protecting your skin from the sun, protecting your lips from the sun is just as important. Your lips can burn and having protective lip balm can help prevent that.
4. Blanket and chair to watch the air show
We recommend having a blanket or chair to sit and watch the four hour-long air show that happens every day starting at 2:30 p.m (1 p.m. on Sunday). We also have two night air shows on Wednesday and Saturday, starting at 8 p.m.
5. Be aware of your surroundings
Your safety is our number one priority and we want you to enjoy AirVenture in the safest way possible. Make sure you are paying attention to where you are walking, especially with the amount of aircraft that will be around you.
6. Check the weather, bring an umbrella or rain coat if needed
It is important to check the weather for AirVenture week. It usually rains at least one day during AirVenture. Bring a rain jacket and/or umbrella to help you be prepared for inclement weather.
7. Bring a hat and a pair of sunglasses
We recommend sunglasses to help protect your eyes from the sun. A hat is just as important to keep the sun out of your eyes and protect your scalp.
8. Lodging
We have multiple different locations for our visitors to stay. AirVenture is known for the camping experience. The top place to stay is our campground, Camp Scholler. You may even get lucky and wake up to the sound of a flight of P-51s taking off for a “dawn patrol”. To find additional lodging, there are Airbnb rental houses, VRBO rental houses, dormitories, and hotels. Find more information about lodging.
9. Planning for traffic and understanding traffic pattern changes
EAA AirVenture brings in around 600,000 people in a seven-day period. That is an average of 85,000 people per day. Be sure to plan accordingly for traffic. Be aware that around 5 p.m. we change our traffic pattern to go from entering the grounds to exiting. What this means is that we change the flow of traffic going from counterclockwise to clockwise to help traffic continue moving. Here's some additional information about traffic patterns.
10. Planning your schedule ahead
The AirVenture schedule of events has been posted online and in the EAA Events app. There is so much to see and we would not want you to miss out on anything.
