For ten years, the roar of jet engines over the Pacific has become part of fall in Huntington Beach. In 2026, Pacific Airshow celebrates its 10th anniversary on the Huntington Beach coastline, an event that began here in 2016 and has grown into one of Southern California’s signature destination experiences.
An Inside Look at 10 Years of Pacific Airshow
This is not a story Student Movers® is watching from the sidelines. As a Huntington Beach-area business with deep ties to the local business community, we have had a front-row view of Pacific Airshow and many of the people behind it. Our longtime friendship with Code Four founder and CEO Kevin Elliott, our involvement with the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, and our experiences at Pacific Airshow events have given us a perspective that goes beyond simply watching the jets from the beach.
Over the years, we have been inside the Code Four chalet, attended Airshow-week gatherings and pilot events, watched the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds over Huntington Beach, and seen firsthand how the event brings together aviation, hospitality, local businesses, civic leaders and the broader Orange County community. The photographs and video throughout this article are part of that story, our own look at an event we have watched grow alongside Huntington Beach.
That is what makes the 10th anniversary personal for us. Pacific Airshow is an enormous international-facing event, but behind the spectacle is a Huntington Beach business story built on relationships, ambitious ideas and years of work.
Ten Years Above Huntington Beach
Pacific Airshow launched in Huntington Beach in 2016. Today, the event describes itself as a three-day beachside festival combining military and civilian aviation, entertainment, hospitality, STEM activities and experiences on the sand. The 2026 event runs October 2–4 and marks a full decade in Surf City.
The scale has grown dramatically. Code Four reports more than 7 million attendees across the event’s history, including more than 3 million in 2019. Pacific Airshow has also received repeated recognition from the U.S. Air Force and has expanded internationally to Australia’s Gold Coast.
Kevin Elliott, Code Four and the Vision Behind Pacific Airshow
Behind much of Pacific Airshow’s growth is Huntington Beach-based Code Four and its founder and CEO, Kevin Elliott, a longtime friend of Student Movers®. Elliott brought Code Four’s resources to the Airshow in 2017 and took over management in 2018, bringing a vision that went far beyond a traditional airshow.
Code Four combines creative, event production, branding, technology, fabrication and logistics under one roof. Its work extends well beyond Pacific Airshow and includes projects and partnerships involving organizations such as the Chargers, Major League Soccer and LA Galaxy, USC, SoFi Stadium, Irvine Company and other major brands and venues.
Pacific Airshow may be the clearest example of those capabilities coming together. Code Four’s role has included talent booking, volunteer management, custom staging, audiovisual systems, branding, event logistics, digital marketing, social media and public relations. The company acquired the event in 2018, and the concept later expanded across the Pacific with Pacific Airshow Gold Coast in Australia.
Behind Pacific Airshow: See Code Four’s Pacific Airshow work and explore Code Four’s broader project portfolio.
A Huntington Beach Business and Community Story
The story also reflects the relationships that make Huntington Beach unique. Elliott was born and raised in Huntington Beach and built Code Four here. Student Movers has likewise spent years serving and participating in the Huntington Beach community. Those paths have crossed through the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, local civic events and Pacific Airshow itself.
For Student Movers®, Pacific Airshow is more than a major Huntington Beach event. It’s part of the community we work in every day. Through our involvement with the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce and relationships with local business leaders, we’ve had a front-row view of how events like Pacific Airshow have helped put Huntington Beach on an international stage. That same local connection comes from more than 16 years serving families and businesses throughout Huntington Beach and Orange County.
For us, that local connection matters. Events of this scale showcase Huntington Beach to millions of people while bringing together businesses, civic leaders, residents, visitors and organizations from throughout Orange County.
From the VIP Party to the Flight Line
Some of our favorite memories are the moments surrounding the show itself: the gatherings, conversations and close-up look at the aviation community that comes to Huntington Beach each year.
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds headline Saturday’s 10th-anniversary schedule, joining an extraordinary lineup of military and civilian performers over the Pacific.
Local Coverage of a Southern California Tradition
The anniversary weekend has also drawn extensive Southern California media attention. KTLA 5 covered Pacific Airshow from Huntington Beach, capturing the scale and energy that have made the event a fixture on the Orange County calendar.
Pacific Airshow Through the Years | KTLA 5
This archival KTLA 5 report offers a look back at an earlier Pacific Airshow in Huntington Beach and helps show how the event has grown over the years.
From its Huntington Beach beginnings to an international event brand, Pacific Airshow’s first decade is a reminder of what can grow from a big idea, strong local partnerships and a community willing to embrace it.
Moving in Huntington Beach? Student Movers® Is Local.
Pacific Airshow is one of the events that makes Huntington Beach such a distinctive place to live, work and do business. Student Movers® is proud to be part of that community and to serve local homeowners, renters and businesses throughout Surf City and coastal Orange County.
If you’re planning a move in Huntington Beach, our local moving team can help with residential moves, apartment and condo moves, business relocations, loading and unloading, and moves throughout Orange County. Learn more about our Huntington Beach moving services, or explore service options in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine and our complete Orange County service area.
Need Movers in Huntington Beach?
Whether you’re moving across Huntington Beach or relocating elsewhere in Orange County, Student Movers® can handle the heavy lifting.
Congratulations to Kevin Elliott, the Code Four team, Pacific Airshow and everyone who has helped build this Huntington Beach tradition over the past ten years. We’re proud to have watched the story unfold right here at home, and we can’t wait to see what flies next.
