What's more, the Zilker Kite Festival is the longest continuously running kite festival in the United States. Since the event runs in Austin, Texas, how did it get that name?
The answer goes right back to 1917, when one Andrew Jackson Zilker donated a parcel of land to the city, near the southern region. The area became a public park in the 1930s and is now known as the Zilker Metropolitan Park, or just Zilker Park. It's huge, at 142 ha (350 acres)!
One day in the not-too-distant future, the sequential number of this event will tick over to a 3-digit number. In 2011 it had reached 83 consecutive events! Wow.
The Exchange Club of Austin oversees the event these days, and since the Millennium has seen it grow a lot in size and scope. Currently, it runs on the 1st weekend in March, each year.
Booths scattered around the venue sell all kinds of items, including food, T-shirts and of course, kites. The proceeds go to programs designed to prevent child abuse, helping abuse victims and awarding scholarships to high school students.
Being inland, the Zilker Kite Festival has quite a different 'look and feel' to a typical beach festival too. Like the Adelaide International event at Semaphore Beach that we like to attend most years, here in South Australia.
We like to fly our own home-made kites at the festival. Fancy a bit of DIY kite-making? Here's our resource...
The Big MBK E-book Bundle is full of step-by-step instructions, close-up photos and more. Designs in many shapes and sizes.
This notable kiting event attracts thousand of kite fliers and onlookers each and every year! So it's not surprising that a few individuals who have blogs faithfully post on their experiences at the festival. I've waded through quite a few photos and videos from such posts, in order to boil it all down a bit for you.
The Zilker Kite Festival is one of the very largest public events put on by the city of Austin. Someone has even started a Facebook page for the festival!
From bloggers' photos it is clear that 100s of kites take to the air simultaneously on a typical day. I don't know about thousands as is sometimes described. Only a minority of those present are actually holding the string of a flying kite, from what I've seen.
One wide photo had nearly 100 kite images that could be counted, but that would still have been only a fraction of the total number in the air.
Another photo clearly shows the backdrop of hi-rise buildings in the southern area of Austin.
A mention of the 'masses of people' or some similar phrase commonly pops up in posts. From looking at a variety of photos of the event, that was certainly my impression too. In fact, the whole event comes across as 'by the public, for the public'. The Zilker Kite Festival contrasts with many International events which are more of a big show featuring big kites which is put on for masses of spectators. Public flying is usually included. However, to use a circus analogy, it's a kind of side-ring act to 'the big stuff'!
There's a number of videos online which give a glimpse into the event. Here's some notes on a few of these, starting from 2011 and working back. The thing about capturing kites with a camera is that most of them end up as far-away dots in the sky! But occasionally something happens to be close enough to get a good glimpse.
From 2011
From 2009
From 2007
Now, if I was going to this event, those first 2 categories would look inviting! It's all about the flight of kites for me. But how about you? Can you imagine one of your creations winning in one of the following categories?
These 2 were taken by photography enthusiasts who publish their work on
Flikr. Not your usual kite festival shots, since these emphasize 'the
people and their kites'. Look carefully, and you will see quite a number
of kite types I haven't even mentioned on this page so far. ... Errrrm ... On
the other hand, perhaps don't worry about it - not everyone is a
kite-classification junkie like me ;-)
Just sign up for my free newsletter and you can immediately download Simplest Dowel Kites, a printable PDF. In the e-book I show you how to make a diamond, delta or sled from oak dowels and plastic. Great fliers!
It's just 1 email per month, no other emails will be sent, and your details are safe with me. You need to be at least 16 years old...
We earn a small commission if you click the following link and buy something. The item does not cost you any more, since we are an "affiliate" of Amazon.
Click here to buy anything you need. Just use the Search box in there if you need different weights or lengths of line, for example.
P.S. Keep an eye out for books by kite author Glenn Davison, a prominent kite person in the USA.
Feb 21, 19 06:34 PM
The workshops were busy near the beach in Ōtaki... ---------------------------------------------------------------- Kite flying is all the rage in Ōtaki, now that the sixth annual Kite Festival has be…
Wind Speeds
Light Air
1-5 km/h
1-3 mph
1-3 knots
Beaufort 1
Light breeze
6–11 km/h
4–7 mph
4–6 knots
Beaufort 2
Gentle ...
12–19 km/h
8–12 mph
7–10 knots
Beaufort 3
Moderate ...
20–28 km/h
13–18 mph
11–16 knots
Beaufort 4
Fresh ...
29–38 km/h
19–24 mph
17–21 knots
Beaufort 5
Strong ...
39–49 km/h
25–31 mph
22–27 knots
Beaufort 6
High Wind
50-61 km/h
32-38 mph
28-33 knots
Beaufort 7
Like/share this site...
Like/share this page...
Comments
Plenty of fun kite info, photos and videos - there's definitely too much here for only one visit! Feel free to leave your impressions of this site or just this page, below...