New York Kite Festival

The New York Kite Festival is a new annual festival, begun just in 2002. However, it figures to become a tradition in the Rockaways in Queens.

http://www.rockawaychamberofcommerce.com/events.htm
New York Kite Festival at the Rockaways
Gateway National Recreation Area
Historic Jacob Riis Park - Bay 9
August 20-21, 2005, 10:00am-4:00pm
FREE OF CHARGE

Once again, unidentified flying objects will be hovering over Riis Park on August 20th and 21st as the New York Kite Festival at the Rockaways takes to the sky! Enjoy an entire weekend of priceless family fun - all for free - on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm. There will be kite making workshops, hands-on activities for the kids, delicious food, music and other entertainment will be featured throughout the weekend.

Kite flying exhibitions will dance in the sky to beautifully orchestrated music, spectators will be awed by thrilling kite flying competitions, while the Kids Kite Camp will hold classes for children to design, create and then help decorate the sky with their very own colorful creations. Live entertainment will be presented throughout each day for both kids and adults.

Historic Gateway National Recreation Area is the perfect setting for a festival of this type. Kite flying is normally not allowed on the Riis Park beaches, so this festival brings an added excitement for the normal beachgoer. Visitors to the Kite Festival will see spectacular and colorful ground displays by regional kite clubs, and brilliantly colored giant kites will fly high over the festival grounds and will be visible for miles around.

Produced by: Sky Festival Productions in collaboration with the Rockaway Chamber of Commerce (718) 634-1300 and Gateway National Recreation Area. Sponsored by Keyspan, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, National Gateway Recreation Area, Councilman Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. and Z-100.

19 August 2004, New York Daily News, "Get Wind of This: High-Flying Fun at Kite Fest" by Warren Woodberry, Jr., pg. 53:
THE THIRD ANNUAL New York Kite Festival at the Rockaways takes flight this weekend at Jacob Riis Park.

Competitions, kite-flying exhibitions orchestrated to music and performers will entertain the thousands of people expected to attend.

The festival will be held Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day in the park, at Bay Ninth St. It's free to the public.

Kite-making workshops will be held at the Children's Kite Camp, where kids will learn to design, create and fly their own kites.

The New York Stunt Kite Championships will feature top sport kite fliers from around the country competing in the Eastern League Sport Kite Association event. The championships will feature 20 separate competitions over the weekend. The events are divided into ballet - flight choreographed to music - and precision categories.