Los Alamos Kite Festival Underway at Overlook Park!

A giant blue bear floats above Overlook Park in White Rock during the Los Alamos Arts Council’s 16th annual Kite Festival Saturday. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Festival Kite Doc volunteer Dennis Ware of Roswell, left, works with Bruce Johnson of Albuquerque on his kite. Ware explained Johnson’s kite is a Cody Box Kite, which was originally intended for spotting artillery in wartime. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Denni Harris selects which markers to use to decorate her kite as her mother Morgan and brother Dash watch. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Staff Report:

Today is the final day of the Los Alamos Kite Festival at the Soccer Field at Overlook Park in White Rock.

This is the 16th year that the Los Alamos Arts Council has presented the highly popular community tradition. Children of all ages turned out to build kites, fly kites, enjoy picnicing with family and friends and take in the artful scene.

Thanks to the generous funding from Los Alamos National Bank, the Kite Festival continues to be a free event for the entire community.

The Kite Festival weekend kicked Friday night with the Summer Concert Series, featuring the band “What Made Milwaukee Famous.” Kite artists were on the field flying their kites. Some participated in a night kite fly demonstration in which small lights were attached to the kites before they were launched into the night sky.

The main festival is held noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday each year. The day includes music, food, kite-building workshops for kids, and a lot of kite flying. Activities also include a traditional Candy Drop. A bag full of candy is launched on a giant kite ready to fly over the festival field. As children look up in anticipation and chase the kite along its flight path, the bag is split open and the candy falls from the sky.

Kite artists from all over the Southwest fly large kites, show their hand-made flying works of art, demonstrate stunt kite flying and grace the field with incredibly colorful banners. Free kite building workshops for kids are held and  kids are invited to build and decorate simple kites with assistance from volunteers.

Los Alamos Arts Council President Tiffany Hinojosa, wearing the orange T-shirt, instructs festival volunteers on how to run the kite building workshop Saturday. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Boston Harris decorates his kite during the kite workshop. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

One of many families enjoying the festivities Saturday includes Nuella Kramer, seated, far back, Abby Rael, left, her sister Marisa, mom Marci and father Robert. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Barbara Ware of Roswell and Shane McKinney get ready for the kite building workshop Saturday. The workshop allows children to make and decorate their own kites. Ware, along with her husband, Dennis, have volunteered every year the kite festival has been held. ‘We come just to do that,’ she said. McKinney said it was his first time volunteering. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

Sam Pedregon of Pueblo, Colo., flies his giant blue bear kite during Saturday’s Kite Festival. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

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