Hundreds of people who enjoy nothing more than jumping out of perfectly good airplanes are three days into a five-day skydiving festival in Fort Dodge.

Mark Hobbs, spokesman for the Des Moines Skydivers, says the “Dollar Days” Skydiving Show is a very big deal in the parachuting community.

“We get about 500 or 600 experienced skydivers from all over the United States and a few other countries,” Hobbs says. “We’ll make about 6,000 skydives in those five days.”

For Iowans who’ve worked up the nerve to give it a try, Hobbs says tandem jumping is the best way to sample skydiving.

“Tandem jumping is an easy, safe way to make your first skydive,” he says. “It involves very little ground training as you are in a harness, attached to an instructor.”

He expects they’ll do about 250 tandem skydives during the five-day event. Interested? Tandem jumps cost $220 at the show, more for a video of the leap.

The events are underway at the Fort Dodge Regional Airport through Monday. For more information, visit www.desmoinesskydivers.com

Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City