International Seaplane Fly-In canceled

The forty-seventh iteration of the annual gathering on Moosehead Lake will have to wait until 2021, the nonprofit International Seaplane Fly-In Association announced with regret.

The fly-in organizers including Chairman Telford Allen III, son of the founder, will work with the Seaplane Pilots Association “to ensure that the event comes back bigger and better in 2021,” the groups announced in an email that also delivered the bad news about the SPA’s annual Member Adventure planned for Lake Como in Italy: That has also been called off for this year.

“There are just too many variables, most of which are pointing in the wrong direction at the moment,” said SPA Executive Director Steve McCaughey, in the email announcing the bad news. “It is very disappointing as our first trip to Lake Como was such a success and interest was extremely strong for this year's return.”

Since 1973, Greenville’s year-round population of about 1,600 people has welcomed 20,000 visitors and 150 aircraft or more each September. The influx prompted local officials to install a traffic light during the event, and hotels typically fill up.