“Let’s go fly a kite up to the highest heights. Let’s go fly a kite and send it soaring. Up to the atmosphere, up to where the air is clear, oh let’s go fly a kite.” Do you remember the words to that song? I’m not sure I have them exactly right, but what I can remember, I am teaching to my 2-year-old daughter as we countdown the days to our local kite festival.
With the last of winter hopefully behind us we are looking forward to spending a sunny day watching hundreds of kites take to the sky. Event organizers are also hoping for sunny skies… and a brisk wind. Last year my daughter was a bit too young to really enjoy all the festival had to offer. But this year she is able to walk (make that run), so I know that she will enjoy the chance to watch the kites and perhaps, fly her own.
Our kite festival is held on the grounds of the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It’s a great daylong family event that includes a grand launch of 200 kites at high noon. Last year there were kites of all shapes and sizes from Clifford the Big Red Dog to rainbow shaped kites, smiley faces, and, of course, kites in the shape of airplanes. There were kites that looked like stained glass windows and kites that looked like fish. (At one point the blue sky was so cluttered with fish kites that one spectator remarked that he didn’t know if he was looking a sky of flying fish or a sea of swimming fish.) There were small kites and large kites and kites so enormous they easily out-sized my college dorm room. The festival really caters to children and included a kite-making workshop and a Kids’ Mad Dash.
Kite festivals provide you with a great opportunity to spend quality time with your family. During the summer months there are literary hundreds of kite festivals held throughout the country. Check with your local Chamber of Commerce to see when and where a kite festival will be held in your area. Then grab your kites and send them soaring.