Get your kicks with kites on the beach

The kites at the Wildwoods 24th Annual International Kite Festival, which will kick off the summer season this Memorial Day Weekend, May 22 through 25, will be a bit more sophisticated than those we flew as kids.
“This is the largest and longest running kite festival in the country,” said Beatrix Pelton, organizer and producer of the festival.
“It was started by Roger Chewning, who owned a kite store at a Jersey shore resort. He encouraged people to ‘come out and fly.’”
Each year since, the festival has grown.
“At first, it was only a ‘sport kite’ competition,” said Pelton.
She explained that sport kites are either a two or four-line configuration, and perform in one of two separate categories—precision or ballet.
Precision pilots fly a predetermined pattern, and do so silently, whereas the ballet routine is done to music—sometimes self-composed—as in figure skating.
“These are experienced flyers,” Pelton noted, “but anyone—with training and practice—could be competing in a month or two.”
The Kite Festival is just the place to get that training, where one-on-one instruction will be available, as will be kites of all kinds. The competition kite used by the experts can range in price from $150-$400, but if you’re a novice, there will be plenty of entry-level kites for sale.
Competitive kite flying is most popular in Asia, according to Pelton, and there will be several “battle competitions” throughout Saturday and Sunday, in two categories:
• Fighter kites are those that endeavor to cut through their opponent’s lines.
• The “Rokkaku” is a six-sided kite that looks something like an elongated stop sign.
You need not be a professional to fly a kite during the festival, but you do need to register. You can do so at the Web site (skyfestivals.com), by clicking on “Events,” then downloading the registration form under “2009 — Wildwoods International Kite Festival.”
“Our goal is to get people off the boardwalk and onto the beach,” said Pelton. “So we’ll have a ‘boardwalk on the beach,’ with food, jewelry, handbags…”
The Kite Festival has always been held in the Wildwoods.
“Where else can you find beaches that are this huge, this sweet, and free!” said Pelton.
Aside from the numerous kite demonstrations taking place during the extended weekend, there will be workshops, held on the festival’s “learn to fly field.” There will be plenty of other family activities, including auctions—both silent and spoken.
On Monday, there will be an indoor kite flying demonstration at the Convention Center.
“That’s done with kites made of very light material,” Pelton explained. “And unlike outdoors, you walk backwards.
Safety is always paramount at the festivals, with instructors very careful with those new to kite flying.
“You don’t want a fly a kite with too much torque,” Pelton cautioned. “It will drag you across the beach.”
“A windy day is not best,” she said. “Optimum wind is about 10 miles per hour. Nothing over 14. At 22 mph, it’s too windy.
Some of the inflatable kites that we’ll have at the festival cost between $3,000 and $10,000. We don’t want to risk keeping them in the air.”
This year the festival theme is “Superheroes,” so look for some familiar heroic faces flying above the expansive Wildwoods’ beaches this Memorial Day Weekend.