Getting ready for WSIKF

The Washington State International Kite Festival happens every year during the 3rd week in August. Seven days of non-stop kite flying on the world's longest beach... Long Beach, Washington. Displays, giant kites, kite flying and kite making competitions, workshops, fun-flys, mass ascensions... there's something different going on all the time.

 There's a competition for theme displays

Festival headquarters with giant kites in background

A giant squid

A giant octopus with 100' tentacles

A big dog & a tiger

4-person team competing in ballet...

...and here's their quad-line kites

The Foster-grandparents fly - photo by Michael Hagen

Bol races for the kids (they're like small parachutes)

photo by Michael Hagen

If you've never been to a major kite festival, you should put it on your bucket list. It can be a stop-off on the way to another destination. Remember... there's at least one kite festival going on somewhere in the world EVERY WEEKEND OF THE YEAR. Just on the Oregon-Washington coast alone, there's at least six kite festivals from June through September.

Here's video of the giant kites at last year's Washington State Int'l Kite Festival:

(the cameraman caught my backside at 2:56 into the video)

I'll be posting photos and an article every day of our trip to WSIKF beginning Sunday, August 16th. Subscribe if you haven't already, and you'll get an email alert each time I post to my blog.