KILL DEVIL HILLS, NC
October 17, 2003

In less than sixty days, people from all over the world will join together to celebrate the first century of aviation at the very site where the historic first manned, powered, controlled, sustained flights were made by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903. The six-day First Flight Centennial Celebration is designed to not only acknowledge the genius of the Wright brothers, but to honor all aviators around the world who followed in their footsteps, and the airplane's evolution in the last century from the Wrights' 1903 Flyer to supersonic jets and spacecraft.

To date, 144,059 tickets have been sold for the First Flight Centennial Celebration, taking place December 12-17, 2003 at Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, NC. Tickets for December 17 have already sold out.

Tickets are still available for purchase for December 13-16 at $10 per day until the 35,000-ticket limit has been reached for each of those days. Event planners have set the daily maximum capacity of the park at 35,000 attendees in order to provide the best visitor experience.

"Our celebration is a six-day tribute to the past, present and future of aviation," said Kim Sawyer, Community Relations Coordinator for the State of North Carolina's First Flight Centennial Commission. "We plan to honor the two brothers who made it all possible, as well as the many individuals and groups who stood on the Wrights' shoulders. Our mission is to inspire our youth to carry their good work forward. Our programming offers something for everyone at a reasonable price, with relevant exhibits, speakers, air shows, tributes and musical performances."

"We want to stress that although the 17th has sold out, tickets are still available for the other remaining days," said Lawrence A. Belli, Superintendent, National Park Service Outer Banks Group. The National Park Service, the State of North Carolina and all of our centennial partners have created a memorable and fitting celebration in honor of these two brothers who changed the world."

Themes for the six days include: December 12---IGNITING THE IMAGINATION; December 13-14---REMEMBER THE PAST, IMAGINE THE FUTURE; December 15--- PROTECTING THE HOME OF THE BRAVE; December 16---IN HISTORY'S FOOTSTEPS, CELEEBRATING 100 AVIATION PIONEERS; and December 17 -TWELVE SECONDS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD. December 12 is a non-ticketed day.

The number of tickets remaining for each day is: 
Friday December 12 - non-ticketed day
Saturday December 13 - 8,080 tickets
Sunday, December 14 - 8,333 tickets
Monday, December 15 - 8,266 tickets
Tuesday, December 16 - 6,542 tickets
Wednesday, December 17 - (sold out)

Senior citizens, age 62 and over, and disabled individuals may purchase a daily ticket for $5 each, while available. Although children age 12 and under are free, they will still need a ticket to enter the park.

The ticket entitles the ticket holder to shuttle transportation between Wright Brothers National Memorial and designated remote parking sites plus access to all buildings, grounds, exhibits and performances open to the general public at the memorial during the event. Seating is not included in the price; chairs may be rented on site.

Tickets are currently available between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern time by going online at http://www.wrightbrothers.reserveworld.com or by calling 1-800-973-7327, or (301) 722-1257 for callers outside of the United States.

All of the most recent information on the First Flight Centennial Celebration can be accessed at the Centennial website on http://www.firstflightcentennial.org. For information on accommodations, check the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau website at www.outerbanks.org or call their toll-free number at (877) 298-4373

Contact:

Erin Porter
Centennial Planning Office
Tel: 252 441 6291 ext. 224
ErinPorterNPS@aol.com