Flight over Fort Liard: Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour takes off

Fort Liard, a community of just over five hundred people, will be watching the skies Friday at its first ever air show.

The Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour kicks off in the N.W.T. and is set to perform in all 97 communities north of 60 this summer.

• Coming this summer: An air show over every northern Canadian community

Some runways are too short to allow aircraft to touchdown, but that won't stop those communities from getting a show, pilots just won't get to land there.

Steven Steeves is the mayor of Fort Liard. He says volunteers have been preparing for this day for the past couple of months.

"A lot of people are happy and they're intrigued, they've never had this done before," Steeves said.

The show has become a real community event, and things got underway last night.

"They were just going to do a one day trip but they decided to do two, because I told them we were going to put on a dinner and drum dance and maybe for fun if it works out, a little bit of hand games."

The Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour is part of Canada 150 celebrations. The air show begins at 1pm. Tomorrow the pilots be performing in Watson Lake, Yukon.

"We're pleased to be the first." Steeves adds. He says six planes are going to be part of the show.

For the full schedule visit the Canadian Arctic Aviation Tour website.