The Santa Barbara Kite Festival is ready to fly, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, April 13 at the Great Meadow on Santa Barbara City College’s West Campus, 973 Cliff Drive.

This year’s theme Help One Another recognizes how the simple act of flying a kite together invites everyone to help one another; and celebrates the love, sharing and togetherness of families and friends attending the festival.

Free to attend, the Santa Barbara Kite Festival is now in its 39 year.

Among the Kite Festival’s highlights is the Childrens’ Tail Chase, where the goal is to chase and capture the tail of a kite flown by the festival’s kite master Rakesh Bahadur.

The festival’s full schedule includes family-friendly kite contests such as Most Beautiful (handmade and commercial), Highest Flying, Largest and Smallest Kites, Youngest and Oldest Kite Flyers, Most Unique Or Unusual Kite, Funniest Kite, Most Unflyable Kite, and Best of Fest – recognizing the best overall kite entry and participant of the festival.

Festival organizers also will select a winner of the event’s annual Lion Award, created in the memory of local legend Chad Dreier and the Dreier family, long-time supporters of the festival.

Parking is available on SBCC’s West Campus and the Main Campus. Kites, food, and beverages can be purchased at the event.

A 2007 proclamation by the Santa Barbara City Council designated April as Kite Month in Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara’s kite month is promoted in coordination with the National Kite Month of April, co-founded by the American Kite Flyers Association and the Kite Trade Association International.

For more, visit www.sbkitefest.net, or call 805-637-6202. Learn about National Kite Month at www.nationalkitemonth.org, and www.kite.org.