For an event that members of Humboldt Kiters only started planning three months ago, the Redwood Coast Kite Festival in Eureka on Saturday May 21 turned out to be an exhibition of kite-making and kite art. Kite. It was also great fun for those who attended the first day of the two-day festival. Event planners also had some weather luck, as the high winds on Thursday and Friday had eased to near-perfect kite conditions under sunny skies on Saturday.

Local members of Humboldt Kiters revived the kite festival in Halvorsen Park along Humboldt Bay this year, decades after it moved to Oregon in the 1990s. Group members who regularly fly kites kites at Halvorsen Park and elsewhere in the area quickly organized a team effort between local sponsors, the Ink People Center for the Arts and local artisans who sold kites and other offerings in vendor tents during the event.

“I loved how it all fell into place,” Humboldt Kiters member Paul “Kite King” Woodard of Eureka said on Saturday as he roamed the park helping kite flyers to take off. “It’s amazing to see the turnout, the support from sponsors, t-shirt donors, vendors, musicians and all the kites. We’re definitely planning to do it again next year.”

Adults and children roamed the community flying area with their own kites, some of which had just been made at a children’s kite-making workshop. Others strolled east under the Samoa Bridge to see demonstrations of large inflatable kites and other types of kites (all dependent on varying wind speeds at any given time). At one point, the sky was filled with fish and a huge octopus, along with a few dragons. Live music accompanied the event and the children also enjoyed a few drops of candy carried by a huge airfoil kite. Visit www.humboldtkiters.com for more details on where you can see kite art installations by artists and galleries associated with the Ink People. See more photos online at www.northcoastjournal.com.

Mark Larson (he/him) is a retired Cal Poly Humboldt journalism professor and an active freelance photographer who enjoys walking.