37th Santa Barbara Kite Festival

By Robert Bernstein

If you were around Santa Barbara in the 1980s and 1990s you probably remember the kite store on State Street near Victoria Street. That family from India is named Khare and they also created the Kite Festival. Sadly, the store is closed. But the Khare family is still going strong with the Kite Festival!

Here are my photos from the 37th Santa Barbara Kite Festival at the City College West Campus Lawn.

Here my dear friend and hiking companion Vandana Khare posed with some of her wonderful art at the Kite Festival. One of her pieces is on display at the Goleta Library until the end of the month.

I biked over from the Transit Center and was delighted to see this beautifully restored Nash Metropolitan that I remembered from my youth.

Ascending the hill from there, I encountered these energetic kite enthusiasts.

There was a good-sized crowd on the lawn, but only one kite in the air. After so many weeks of fierce winds, there was almost no wind for the Kite Festival. Argh! But there were a few periods of wind that allowed some kites to fly as it got later in the afternoon.

Kite flying is best done by a pair of partners. One to launch the kite, the other to hold the string. Here was one happy launcher.

This young man did his best to launch solo.

The theme this year was “It takes two to tangle”, a parody of “It takes two to tango”. I think this woman was successfully dealing with a tangle.

This group posed for me, even though they had no kites. I think they just wanted their photo in Edhat. Totally understandable!

This woman struck a graceful dance pose as she helped her partner launch their beautiful kite.

Down below was a postcard perfect view of sailboats just offshore.

There was a good variety of kite designs, although some kite shapes struggled in the light wind. Two people had ladybug designs.

I can imagine Snoopy flying this one in his quest to get the Red Baron.

Eventually the sky was filled with kites, at least for a bit.

Here is a video.

There was other entertainment for the kids, too.

Nothing really for lunch, but there were some snacks, courtesy of Halal Pueblo Pollo.

The children definitely had an influence on picking the kites, many of which were on sale on site.

You may recognize my friend (left below) John Dickson as The Restaurant Guy. Here he posed with his son Jimmy and their friends. John’s wife Sharon and my wife Merlie are also friends. They were each doing their own things that day!

John and Jimmy did their best to launch a kite in the light wind. Notice John’s effective technique of tugging the string, without reeling it in. But the total lack of wind won out in the end.

To stay informed about future events with the Kite Festival, visit their Facebook page below. I see that local media star David Hefferman is the contact for the group!

https://www.facebook.com/sbkitefest