Go Fly A Kite At LBI KiteFest

My daughter got into the original Mary Poppins movie a few weeks ago, so I found myself wandering around the house humming "Let's Go Fly A Kite" constantly. Sometimes being exposed to an earworm makes it go away, so maybe going to a kite festival will get the song out of my brain for a while.

This weekend marks the sixth annual LBI Fly Kite Festival! The Festival opens Saturday, October 10th at 10am and runs until 4pm on Sunday, October 11th. The Main Kite Field will be located in Ship Bottom and an additional field in Long Beach Township at 68th Street. The festival features inflatable kites, sport kite demonstrations, plus a kite market.

The weather this weekend is looking kind of sketchy, with clouds on Saturday leading to some potential rain on Sunday. According to organizers, the kites will be flying in mist and/or light rain, but steady downpours may force kites to the ground. Any weather-related changes to the schedule will be posted on the website and Facebook event page.

With the various restrictions still in place due to the pandemic, the event has a few changes from years past:

• There will be no Friday Indoor Fly and no Sunday Night Fly
• There will be no events that require gathering or shared usage of materials (kids’ kite-making, candy drop, bol kite racing, buggy kites, Mayor’s kite battle, etc)
• Social Distancing is expected of all beach-goers and masks are required if you cannot maintain a 6ft distance from other parties on the beach

There's something relaxing about seeing a sky full of kites, and if there's one thing we could all use more of right now, it's relaxation.