Southern Oregon Kite Festival

18th Annual

July 18, 2010

Brookings-Harbor, Oregon

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(Aug 08)

While visiting Brookings, Oregon, we attended the 18th Annual Southern Oregon Kite Festival. We expected to see lots of kites; what we didn't expect was to see kites "dancing" in the air, their movements choreographed to music! It was a beautiful event: lots of fun to see the different kinds of kites, and lovely to watch the artistry of the flyers. Several champion flyers performed, including solo flyers who synchronized the movements of 2 or 3 kites at a time!

The Kites

The kites came in all different colors and styles. Some had tails:

Others boasted bold stripes and patterns:

There were patriotic designs:

And kites that looked like bugs!

Betty Book made an appearance:

As did this "mystery man"!

Two dragons were spotted over the beach. Not part of the festival, just enjoying the breeze...

Along with these "airplanes":

Some of the festival kites didn't go up high; they "flew" over the ground, pulled by a person in a harness. We watched them race:

This rainbow one was especially beautiful -- and large!

We learned about "Rokkaku," the traditional six-sided fighting kites of Japan:

Rokkaku usually feature the face of a famous Samurai (or other significant scene), with a symbolic meaning for each one. I didn't write down the meanings, but got the pictures:

Dancing Kites

The highlight of the program were the dancing kites. For this activity, the "quad" (four line) design was by far the most popular:

They danced in two's:

And three's:

They "kissed" in mid-air:

and stood at attention on the ground!

These two kites moved artfully together under the solo direction of Gary MacEachern, who also designed them. Quite a feat!

IQuad

The top performance group was "Iquad," six flyers who commandeered six kites in the sky. They had some amazingly skillful moves:

Two sets of three kites are passing through each other here. They didn't get tangled! And it was all choreographed to music...

This circle formation was a crowd-pleaser!

You can watch an Iquad performance with music on YouTube! Check it out. You'll be amazed!

And Speaking of Amazing...

The whole festival was an amazing experience. It truly gave me a "new perspective"...

on the world of kites!

Happy Kite-Flying Days to you!