Culture

Puns on strings at the Washington International Kite Festival

by julianw | August 19, 2008 at 12:52 pm

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Tens of thousands of kite fans and kite fliers are gathering at Long Beach this week for the Washington International Kite Festival. You may have already missed Monday's Most Beautiful and Most Unique European Arch kite event and the Best pun kite contest (subcategory: "Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend: Fly your diamond kites, big and small. Earn an extra point if the flyer at the end of the line is a “girl.”") is happening right now, but there's still time to catch Friday's "Bear in the Air" show. If you're not persuaded, check out Connie McDougall's preview of the festival in The Seattle Times.

I know better now, but before I got educated, a kite was nothing more than frustration on a string, robotically attracted to telephone lines, treetops and nightmarish nosedives into the ground.

With a little knowledge, even I can go tako kichi — Japanese for "kite crazy." Next week, you'll see a lot of tako kichi-ness at the 27th annual Washington State International Kite Festival, which runs Monday through Aug. 24 in Long Beach, on the Washington coast. Kite fliers from all over the world converge on the windy shore to launch a mind-boggling array of colorful kites.

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Maria Elaina

at 12:57 on August 21st, 2008

The Wildwood Kite Festival is an annual event at the New Jersey shore. The festival is one of the largest in the world and includes stunt kite competitions as well as single line competitions. The festival is held on the beach and lasts all of Memorial Day Weekend. Food and fun make this a wonderful event for the entire family!

For more information on flying kites go to this link: http://www.awindofchange.com/lessons/lesson1-3.html

For more information on upcoming kite festivals, follow this link: http://www.kite.org/cal.php

Maria Elaina has contributed a photo to this story.

iwan.setya

at 17:48 on August 21st, 2008

Here is the the Traditional Kite when showed on Bali Kite Festival at Sanur.

iwan.setya has contributed a photo to this story.

keen4

at 00:15 on August 22nd, 2008

Berkeley Ca. Kite Festival 2008

keen4 has contributed a photo to this story.

Stephen Maudsley

at 03:47 on August 22nd, 2008

This year's Bristol Kite Festival is 30/31 August - http://www.kite-festival.org.uk/

Stephen Maudsley has contributed a photo to this story.

Wordsnark

at 09:43 on August 22nd, 2008

And speaking of kite festivals ... The 16th Annual Canal Days Kite Festival was held on Sunday, August 3, 2008 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Lakeview Park in Port Colborne ON. To read about the event and to view photos and videos of the amazing kite display, visit the Niagara Windriders Newsletter on line: http://nwka.blogspot.com/ Over 11,000 spectators visited H.H. Knoll-Lakeview Park in Port Colborne to view this event.