12th Annual DeKalb Kite Fest Set for Sunday

The 12th Annual DeKalb Kite Festival is Sunday, September 10th from 11am-4pm at the field known as the “North 40” on Northern Illinois University’s campus; corner of Lucinda Avenue and Kishwaukee Drive in DeKalb; adjacent to Anderson Hall. Admission is free, parking is $3, cash only. Manja (manjha) string or any other type of glass covered string is prohibited.

“We are excited to be celebrating our 12th annual DeKalb Kite Fest thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. The kites are all shapes and sizes, many of which are more than 100 feet in length, and they will fill the skies over DeKalb,” stated Debbie Armstrong, Kite Fest Co-Chair and DeKalb County Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director. “One of my favorite kites is a little bear that leads the kids onto the field for kite candy drop. The kids look forward to that every year,” continued Armstrong. The featured kite pilots are recruited by Dave Zavell from Chicago Kite. “We are excited to have the Team Sky-FX quad team back for their 2 nd year, as well as all our returning kite pilots. They return year after year to our festival to showcase their beautiful kites for our community,” said Armstrong.

This family-oriented festival will feature kite-making for children, a candy drop with candy courtesy of Nestle, and nonprofit booths that include games and other activities for the kids. Food will be available for purchase from Sweet Dream Desserts and Catering, and Cream King. Other organizations participating include Art Attack; A-TEC Ambulance, DeKalb Park District, NIU Athletics, NIU STEM Outreach, Barbed Wire Betties, and Chicago Kite.

Spectators are invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets for comfortable seating. And we encourage everyone to share their pictures across social media with the #DeKalbKiteFest hashtag.

DeKalb Kite Fest offers plenty of space for participants to fly their own kites. Bring a kite, make a kite or buy a kite from Chicago Kite, which will be on-site. Fest goers will be entertained by several Wisconsin based flyers and Team Sky-FX, an Ohio based quad team. “The types of kites flying will depend on the weather, but we’re planning to fly kites of all different shapes and forms, including two-line controllable kites, stunt kites, and quad-
line kites,” says Dave Zavell, owner of Chicago Kite.

“Kite Fest brings visitors from as far away as Wisconsin and Minnesota,” said Doug Nelson, Kite Fest Co- Chair. “We also want to thank the participating hotels that donate complimentary hotel rooms for the kite pilots.”

For a full list of sponsors visit www.dekalbcountycvb.com/dekalbkitefest/. For more information about Kite Fest,  follow Kite Fest on Facebook at DeKalbKiteFest.