Photo: Leon Sultan, in his sunset-colored wingsuit, hobbles to lead the race. Photo by Caleb Brown.
An evening pyro jump organized by Cassie Young sparkles over Skydive City Zephyrhills in Florida, with jumpers from top to bottom: Flavien Mazzon, Caleb Brown, Young, Ryan Blunk, Joseph Webb and Joe Lohmuller. Photo by Felicia Sturgeon.From February 26 to March 1, over 130 wingsuiters migrated to Skydive City Zephyrhills in Florida for the largest wingsuit boogie of recent times: Flockfest, an event thrown by wingsuit manufacturer Squirrel. Flockfest fills a massive experience-gap seen in the wingsuit community and is an event that can bring any wingsuiter at any point in their progression together with world-class organizers. Whether it be flocking fundamentals, XRW jumps (mixed wingsuit and canopy flight), big-ways, two-plane formations, acrobatics, dynamics or simply flying relative to others, Flockfest has a group for every person with a wingsuit and a desire to shred. With over 25 organizers for all suit sizes, skill levels and XRW aspirations, the event provides an environment for everyone to thrive and boost their wingsuit game to the next level while bringing the wingsuit community together.
Flockfest had notable and invigorating jumps throughout the whole event. Some of these included a 13-way Florida Vertical Wingsuit Formation Record, which Joe Lohmuller and Cassie Young organized; a 30-way two-plane, double-stacked V-shaped formation organized by Joe Webb; an evening wingsuit pyro demonstration that lit up the twilight pink skies; numerous multi-canopy XRW jumps, where multiple wingsuiters got their first hand and surf docks; and many others. Although the weather forecast wasn’t perfect, organizers utilized weather holds effectively with activities such as a wingsuit-specific packing seminar by Scotty Bob Morgan, a wingsuit acrobatics competition seminar by Julia Botelho, Lohmuller and Kevin Su, as well as a wingsuit race (on the ground) to win a SkySnatch 2 30-inch pilot chute from Squirrel. A DJ and a party energized each evening, while Saturday night entailed a dinner, a mesmerizing fireworks show and a raffle (where two people won a free hour at Indoor Wingsuit Stockholm).
Skydive City is planning to host Flockfest annually and continue to grow it each year. The success of the event primarily stemmed from the incredible team of organizers who had faith in something larger than themselves, an event that allowed them to help the wingsuit community that has so greatly helped them. The event would not have been possible without the unparalleled capabilities of Skydive City, with its fleet of five turbine aircraft on site and the ability to fly them seamlessly in unison. Owners, Kyle and Lauren Salvato sincerely care about the fun-jumper community and relentlessly support skydivers, camps and events to their greatest ability. The call times are short, the swoop pond is wet, and the palm trees are tall. Skydive City is the hot place to be, and Flockfest is just the beginning.
Cassie Young D-40568
Hawthorn Woods, Illinois