Up, Up and Away
Story and Photography by Stephanie Yee/Corsair Staff

Forget what you remembered as a child about kites. The standard issue single-line diamond-shaped kites you might associate with kites of yesterday aren’t what you’ll see in kite shows and festivals today. Hundred of yards of beach just north of the Huntington Beach Pier were cordoned off for the 6th Annual Kite Party on Sunday, Feb. 24. Sponsored by Dave Shenkman’s The Kite Connection, a local Huntington Beach kite shop, the Kite Party is a casual event for kite enthusiasts as well as families and random spectators who know nothing about kites, but enjoy the displays of kite flying from the sidelines or the pier.

Rain early in the morning threatened to cancel the day’s event; by noon the sun emerged and amateur and professional kite fliers from across the United States as far off as Anchorage showed off their adept skills at maneuvering dual-line and four-line kites.

Kite shows coordinated by the members of the IQuad team and Illinois Kite Enthusiasts were spectacular displays of choreographed dances in the sky. Equally enthralling were the amazingly colorful array of kites in the different shapes and sizes. Fish, spaceship and guitar-shaped kites can range in price from the hundreds to the thousands. Brian Champie of San Ramon, Calif., a kite enthusiast for 17 years, called his vehicle a “kite bag” where he kept his “too many to count” kites. He laughingly admitted he has paid over $4,000 for one kite. It just goes to show you don’t have to be too young or too poor to enjoy kite flying.