The kite festival had been reimagined in 2021 due to COVID-19's impact on the region, and canceled altogether in 2020. According to the organization, this year will mark the 55th anniversary of the event and will feature kite performances and competitions, kite-making activities, a Family Field with children’s activities, and other features suitable for all ages. The annual Blossom Kite Festival has been scheduled for Saturday, March 26, 2022, from 10 a.m. Visit its website to find out more about upcoming events.WASHINGTON (7News) - After a two-year hiatus, kites will soar over the National Mall during the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The Cherry Blossom Festival will continue its four-week-long celebration until April 16. A contestant gets ready to fly his kite for one of the Cherry Blossom Festival competitions. Delighted spectators watched and determined the winner with cheers and applause. So I just combine them and it works out!” Gemmel Bacon flying his kite using a fishing pole (photo by Eugenia Scheuren)ĭuring a competition at the festival, The Wings Over Washington Kite Club, The Kite Ballets, and 180 GO! teams demonstrated master synchronized kite movements displaying geometrical formations in the sky and aerial choreographed performances synchronized to music.

“When go to the beach, I always have a fishing pole and we take our kites. Kites don’t have a reeling system to reel the string in, “so I said to myself, why not just have a reel to reel it in,” said Bacon. Gemmel Bacon, a resident from Laurel, Maryland, drove 30 minutes to the Washington Monument to sit back, relax, and fly his kite using a fishing pole. Some attendees at the Blossom Kite Festival came up with innovative ideas. He is a member of the Wings Over Washington Kite Club and volunteers every year at the festival to repair kites, teach people how to fly them, and make at least “one kid smile,” he says. “Sometimes, it is just a way to relax and get the real world out of my head.” Stark said, “back in the day, I used to drive here to the Mall…fly a kite for an hour on Friday nights and go back home.”

This has become one of his favorite pastimes. Children enjoy activities offered at the festival, photo by Eugenia Scheuren Attendees of all ages enjoying the Blossom Kite Festival, photo by Eugenia Scheurenĭon Stark started flying kites when he was just a little boy and rediscovered them later in life. Parachute games offered exercise and non-competitive games. The Embassy of Japan invited people to make sakura kirigami and other paper souvenirs using Cherry Blossom Festival stamps. Kids made and decorated scores of paper kites. Near the Washington Monument, people of all ages found tents with various springtime activities. From homemade paper kites to octopi-shaped kites to 12-feet long zebra-shaped kites, the festival invited everyone to display their unique kites. Kites of all styles, sizes, shapes, and colors covered the National Mall. after being on hold for two years due to COVID-19 restrictions.įamily, friends, and kite enthusiasts celebrated the festival’s 55th anniversary with all sorts of activities, performances, and competitions. Locals and tourists put their flying skills to the test this past weekend as the Blossom Kite Festival returned to Washington, D.C.

Dc kite festival