The first annual seafront airshow

Airshow

An air show is an event at which aviators display their flying skills and the capabilities of their aircraft to spectators in aerobatics. Air shows without aerobatic displays, having only aircraft displayed parked on the ground, are called "static air shows"....

 took to the skies on Monday 26 May 1986 as the Grand Finale of the Southend Spring Festival.
Concorde appeared 1986-88 Pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/search/show/?q=southend+airshow+1986&w=26359504%40N08

This was the only year that there was a fee charged to enter the cordoned-off display area from Shorefields Road to the Three Shells. Adults were charged £3 whilst children aged 3–16 paid £1.

To stop people evading the entrance fee, 8 ft high scaffolding

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is a temporary structure used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures. It is usually a modular system of metal pipes or tubes, although it can be from other materials...

 covered with nylon netting was erected. The star of the show on that day was a British Airways

British Airways

British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...

 Concorde

Concorde

Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...

, which performed a double pass carrying 150 passengers whilst on its way back to Heathrow from a trip round the Bay of Biscay

Bay of Biscay

The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...

. See http://www.flickr.com/search/show/?q=Southend+Airshow+Concorde+1986&w=26359504%40N08&z=m

Southend is the longest running seafront airshow, and celebrated 25 consecutive years in 2010. It is regarded as the benchmark for all the other towns that saw how popular the event was and copied the idea to boost tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 in their own towns.

Southend has attracted many aircraft and display teams including; The Red Arrows, Frecce Tricolori

Frecce Tricolori

The Frecce Tricolori , officially known as the 313° Gruppo Addestramento Acrobatico, is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Aeronautica Militare, based at Rivolto Air Force Base, in the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, province of Udine...

, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is a Royal Air Force flight which provides an aerial display group comprising an Avro Lancaster, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane...

, RAF Falcons

RAF Falcons

The RAF Falcons are recognised as the UK's premier military parachute display team. They perform their unique and colourful aerial display at numerous venues nationwide and are renowned for their famous 11-person non-contact canopy stack display routine....

, the Sally B

Sally B

Sally B is the name of an airworthy 1945-built Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress. It was delivered to the United States Army Air Force on 19 June 1945 as 44-85784; after being converted to both a TB-17G and then an EB-17G it was struck off charge in 1954. In 1975 the Institut Géographique National in...

 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, A10 Thunderbolt, Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, Avro Shackleton

Avro Shackleton

The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft for use by the Royal Air Force. It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber with a new fuselage...

, Hawker Siddeley Harrier, Vulcan, F117a, Vickers Viscount

Vickers Viscount

The Vickers Viscount was a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world...

, Boeing 737

Boeing 737

The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...

, 747

Boeing 747

The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...

, 757

Boeing 757

The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the twinjet have a capacity of 186 to 289 persons and a maximum range of , depending on variant and cabin configuration...

, 767

Boeing 767

The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...

, the Saab Draken and a Catalina flying boat estuary takeoff and landing, to its show.

Some pictures from 1986-1997 here:
http://www.flickr.com/search/show/?q=Southend+Airshow&w=26359504%40N08

Excellent site with a lot of detail is here:
http://www.southendtimeline.com/southendairshow.htm