Santa Barbara Kite Festival

This year’s theme is “Love is a Breeze!”. Festival Kite Master Rakesh Bahadur and director David Hefferman selected this year’s festival theme to celebrate the love, laughter, and togetherness of families and friends at the festival.

The “Childrens Tail Chase”is guaranteed to generate even more fun and laughter at the event. The tail chases feature groups of kids chasing and capturing the tail of a kite expertly flown by Mr. Bahadur. The festival schedule is full with family-friendly kite contests including “Most Beautiful” (handmade & commercial), “Highest Flying”, “Largest & Smallest Kites”, ”Youngest & Oldest Kite Flyers”, “Most Unique Or Unusual Kite”, “Funniest Kite”, “Most Unflyable Kite”, “Best Handmade Kite” (a new category), and “Best of Fest” – recognizing the best overall kite entry and participant of the day. Finally, festival organizers will select this year’s winner of the “Lion Award”- created in the memory of local legend Chad Dreier and presented by the Dreier family. Thanks to a 2007 proclamation by the Santa Barbara City Council, April is officially designated as “Kite Month” in Santa Barbara, The Santa Barbara Kite Festival has also been recognized by the city for its annual contributions to community recreation and family fun. Santa Barbara’s kite month of April is promoted in coordination with the National Kite Month of April – co-founded by the American Kite Flyers Association and the Kite Trade Association International.

“It Takes Two To Tangle” The Santa Barbara Kite Festival Returns This Sunday!

Turning a phrase, I said “it takes two to tangle” during a radio interview on Cork & Fork 805 on Friday. Kite flying does ask two people to work together in a beautiful way. Everyone is invited to fly a kite together, or just enjoy the day this Sunday April 16th at the 37th Santa Barbara Kite Festival.

The Santa Barbara Kite Festival returns 11am-4pm this Sunday to the Great Meadows on the west campus of Santa Barbara City College. The theme of this year’s family-friendly festival is “Colors”. Festival Kite Master Rakesh Bahadur and Festival Director David Hefferman chose this year’s theme to celebrate the color and beauty that families and friends bring to the event each year. Rakesh added “Color the skies with us. Everyone is welcome!”

Sure to generate more colors and laughter this year, the “Childrens’ Tail Chase” features kids, separated into various age group, working together to capture the tail of a kite expertly flown by Mr. Bahadur. The festival’s busy schedule this Sunday is also packed with a number of fun kite contests including “Most Beautiful” (handmade & commercial), “Highest Flying”, “Largest & Smallest Kites”, ”Youngest & Oldest Kite Flyers”, “Most Unique Or Unusual Kite”, “Funniest Kite”, “Most Unflyable Kite”, and “Best of Fest” -recognizing the best overall kite entry and participant of the day. Finally, festival organizers will select a winner of the “Lion Award”- created in the memory of Chad Dreier and his loving family who are long time supporters of the festival. The festival is held each year in the Great Meadows on the west campus of Santa Barbara City College, 973 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara, Ca 93109 (next to SBCC’s Garvin Theater). Admission to the festival is free. Parking is available on both west campus and the main campus. Kites, food, and beverages can be purchased at the event.

Where To Fly: Free flying of your kite is allowed & encouraged outside of the Festival Flying Zone (we have a 75 yard area marked off for Festival events listed below so everyone can be safe while participating). Note: Festival Events are wind dependent and may change in order and scheduled time during the fest. Please respect the event participants in the competition area

Do not fly your kite or your child’s kite over the competition area please.

Childrens Tail Chase Game 11am-4pm @Top & Bottom of Hour. Groups of kids of like ages chase and try to capture the kite master’s kite tail. Age groups ranging from ages 3-4/5, 6-8, 8-12.

12:45 pm: MOST BEAUTIFUL- COMMERCIAL & HANDMADE KITES
1:15 pm YOUNGEST & OLDEST FLYERS
1:45 pm MOST UNIQUE KITE, MOST UNUSUAL KITE
2:15 pm FUNNIEST KITE, MOST UNFLYABLE KITE!
2:45 pm Largest Kites, Highest Flying Kites
3:15pm BEST OF FEST
4pm Sport Flying/Aerial Demos