Children in Ocean Beach should not be offended if someone soon tells them to go fly a kite. The 62nd annual Ocean Beach Kiwanis Kite Festival and Craft Fair is being prepped for some high-flying fun Saturday, March 6. “In most places you tell somebody, ‘Go fly a kite’ and it’s an insult,” said OB Kiwanis President Melanie Nickel. “In Ocean Beach it’s an invitation. It’s a fun thing for people to do with their families.” In its sixth decade, the OB Kite Festival is one of the oldest in the United States. According to Nickel, the OB Kiwanis started the festival in 1948 to celebrate its 20th anniversary and the event has been around ever since. “We’re into our third generation now,” Nickel said. “We have people who were in it as kids bringing their grandchildren.” Perhaps the best part about the festival is that kids don’t need to bring their own kites. OB Kiwanis provides all the supplies for kite making, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center on Santa Monica Avenue. “We have a special design of kite. It’s not the classic type with the cross sticks and the diamond shape,” Nickel said. “It’s shaped more like a shield and it’s plastic. They’re guaranteed to fly. A two-year-old could fly them.” Although all the kites in the festival will be the same style, that is where the similarities stop. Kite fliers will be given free reign to decorate their kites as they wish, with eight age divisions awarded prizes along with awards for most unique, best decorated and best theme. “Kites are judged on how well-decorated they are,” Nickel said. “They start out with a clean sheet of white plastic and they decorate it.” The festival will come to a close with a kite parade down Santa Monica Avenue to the beach starting at 2:05 p.m. Nickel expects around 1,500 people to attend the festival and projects more than 800 kites will be made. “Usually we have a nice, breezy day. A good day for kite flying,” Nickel said. The festival also includes a craft fair on Santa Monica Avenue from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nickel said booths will include face painting, jewelry and little decorative items. There will also be carnival and llama rides for children. Hot dogs and punch will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the OB Elementary School courtyard. Families can eat lunch to the sound of live music at the school. “It’s a really fun way for families to spend time together, browse the craft fair, make a kite and go on some carnival rides,” Nickel said. “We don’t have a lot of things nowadays that families can do together.” All of the kite festival events will be held near the Ocean Beach Recreation Center, located at 4726 Santa Monica Ave. For more information call (619) 531-1527 or visit www.oceanbeachkiwanis.org.
