World Freefall Convention

By: © Nelson Taylor 2008

Festival Location: Quincy, IL, USA

Festival State: Illinois Festivals

Festival Type: Extreme Sports Events

The World Freefall Convention (WFFC), a wild weekend of wine, women and song, is like no other party on the planet. And that's because it celebrates the extreme sport of skydiving. And I'm not talking about the way your gramps used to jump from a plane in WWII. No, this is "The World's Largest Boogie," which means naked jumps, jumps in rafts, sky surfing, and lots of radical dudes and dudettes screaming "Hell yea, Bro!" from 23,000-foot altitudes.

This annual event has taken place every August since 1990 on a desolate Illinois airfield surrounded by miles and miles of wide-open spaces. Here's some statistics from the 1999 WFFC. It drew 5,410 registrants, which included both jumpers and nonjumpers from all 50 states in America and from 52 countries. Over 65,000 jumps were made in 10 days. 503 tandem jumps were made. 84 Accelerated Freefall School (AFS) students made the grade. Legendary skydiver Mike Burt made 180 jumps. 393 kegs of beer were given away. 76 units of blood were collected. And $30,855 was raised for various charities.

Registration to the WFFC for jumpers is $49 and for nonjumpers is $24. This basic fee gets you free camping, hot showers, seminars, nightly entertainment, and most importantly, all the beer you can put away. (The beer tents don't open until the last jump of the day has landed.) If you want to jump, you'll need a "B" license, which is the equivalent of AFF training and 50 jumps, and a USPA membership, which you can buy on site for $8. A single jump from a hot air balloon will cost $79, while one from a helicopter goes for $39. But the best deal is the Ten Pack Standard Jump Ticket, which will cost you $170. First-time jumpers have two opportunities. You can either jump tandem ($159), with someone attached to your back, or you can take the multi-day AFF school, which will cost you almost $700.

No matter how you look at it, skydiving is dangerous as hell. Convention organizer and AFF instructor D. Jan Stewart says, "There is a tragedy almost every year. This past year a young jumper broke his femur in a corn field. He had passed away by the time someone found him several hours later. And breaking a leg is, unfortunately, a frequent occurrence." But it's not just the jumpers who are in danger. Another frequent occurrence is jumpers falling from the sky, skipping off the tops of mobile homes and ripping through lunch tents. Whether you are a jumper or a lawnchair spectator, prepare to keep your eyes to the sky and your cohones in your throat. The WFFC is one of the ballsiest gatherings in this book.