Saturday, August 6, 2011

Long Beach kite festival coming!



Photos by D. Grant Haynes

Kiting enthusiasts from throughout North America are already gathering in Long Beach for the annual International Kite Festival to be held August 15-21 this year. Kites are a serious business here. There is a kite museum and at least one kite specialty shop. For one who purchased Hi-Flyer paper kites for less than a dollar in F.W. Woolworth's in a 1950's Columbus, Georgia, 21st Century kiting in Washington State is a whole 'nother ball game. Some kites cost upwards of $200 nowadays. That I should live so long! -- D. Grant Haynes