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First Flight Centennial Celebration Tickets To Be Sold At Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Visitor Center Starting December 8 At 9 A.M.
Tickets still available for December 13-15 Advance Internet/Phone Ticket Sales End Sunday, December 7 at 10 p.m. EST

Kill Devil Hills, NC
December 5, 2003

Event planners for the First Flight Centennial Celebration announced today that general admission tickets for December 13-15 will be sold until the daily 35,000-ticket limit has been reached at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site Visitor Center in Manteo, NC, beginning Monday, December 8 at 9 a.m. Ticket sales must be made in person between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily while ticket supplies last. Forms of payment include personal checks, cash, Master Card or Visa credit cards. Phone orders will not be accepted.

Advance general admission ticket sales by phone and internet for the First Flight Centennial Celebration will end on Sunday, December 7 at 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. This cutoff date has been instated to provide adequate time to mail advance ticket orders to purchasers so that tickets are received before December 12, the first day of the event. Tickets may be purchased between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time online at www.wrightbrothers.reserveworld.com or by calling 1-800-973-7327, or (301) 722-1257 for callers outside of the United States.

To date, over 170,000 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 reached sold out status in early October. December 12 is a non-ticketed day.

Tickets are still available for purchase for December 13-15 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.

The number of tickets remaining for each day is: 
Friday,      December 12 - non-ticketed day
Saturday,    December 13 - 2,298 tickets
Sunday,      December 14 - 2,772 tickets
Monday,      December 15 - 2,479 tickets
Tuesday,     December 16 - (sold out)
Wednesday,   December 17 - (sold out)

"Our celebration is a six-day tribute to the past, present and future of aviation," said Kim Sawyer, First Flight Program Administrator 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 16th and 17th have 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."

The six-day commemoration 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.

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

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.

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 http://www.outerbanks.org or call their toll-free number at (877) 298-4373. For information on the event's transportation plan, see http://www.ncdot.org/news/centennialceleb11_03.html

Contact:
Erin Porter
252 441 6291 ext. 224
ErinPorterNPS@aol.com



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