On Sunday, a brilliant blue sky acted as the background for a collage of colors, shapes, and criss-crossing twine in the 37th annual Santa Barbara Kite Festival, hosted at Santa Barbara City College’s west campus.
On the green and rolling hills, some families stretched out blankets and rested in the gentle sea breeze, while others attempted to harness that wind in taking flight with kites featuring an assorted cast of animals and television characters, all donning neon colors and extravagant patterns.
David Hefferman, one of the event organizers and designated announcer, stood at the center of the festival in a box marked on the ground with tape. This localized area was where different competitions and games were held over the five-hour duration of the festival.
One such game was called the Children’s Tail Chase. In this game, Kite Master Rakesh Bahadur controlled a small diamond-shaped kite. Bahadur zoomed the kite up and down, twirling in loops above a group of children running in pursuit, trying to grab ahold of its streaming tail. Whoever successfully captured the tail won a snack prize.
Nowadays people tend to be glued to their phones, Bahadur said, “But when you fly a kite, everyone looks up.”
Another aspect of the festival was kite competitions, with entries including Most Beautiful and Highest Flier.
The winner of the category for Most Unique Kite was Felix Deleon. Deleon’s kite, called the Vietnam Kite, was around 6 feet tall and donned the Batman logo. Supporting this kite was a row of flutes made of bamboo, which according to Deleon, “makes a loud noise when in the air, like a bell or a train sound.”
Deleon and other category winners were given a plaque and a dinner gift card for Los Arroyos.
“It’s a labor of love and a community effort,” Hefferman said of the event. “I love the renewability of the festival and its spirit.”
Hefferman and Bahadur share the sentiment that it is enjoyable seeing generations of families come to the festival. Both have seen kids come and return years later as adults with their own children.
The Kite Festival is expected to return again next year in April, which is aptly considered Kite Month in Santa Barbara as of 2007.
Julia Vaughan is a Noozhawk contributing writer and UC Santa Barbara student.
