The Folkestone Air Festival started life in 1990 as "The Shepway Airshow & Festival". The event was run by Shepway Council at the time and was a successful staple in the event calendar throughout the course of the 1990's. The event returned successfully for a few years in 2012 and was organised by the then Folkestone Town Centre Management.

After a long and complex hiatus, Folkestone and Hythe District Council relaunched the event as an "Air Display". This was shortly after the pandemic and was over course of a few years. Some of the original team who organised the original event were instrumental behind the scenes.

Folkestone Air Festival is a fresh collaboration with some of the original organisers, business people in the South East and with support from professionals in the aviation industry. The aim is to bring a fun family festival to the South East of the UK.