Craig and I woke up at 5 am on Saturday to make it to the Long Beach Kite Festival, one of the biggest kite festivals in the world. It was amazing, with hundreds of kites of all styles in the sky at any given moment. There were people competing in acrobatics, choreographed group ballets, kite fighting, and way more. We got some lessons in Americanized kite fighting – rather than using lines covered with glass, the American sport has evolved so the goal is just to touch your opponents line. The referee calls “top” or “bottom” to start the match, then the competitors attempt to touch their opponent’s line from that direction. The new rules have created a much faster-paced sport and the agility people coax out of a single-line kite is unbelievable.
The high point, though, was definitely watching one man fly three two-line sport kites at one time – one with each hand and one with his waist. The kites flew in perfect formation – like an airshow, with all three flying together, then splitting off and performing individual tricks, then rejoining again. It was beautiful.
