11th Annual DeKalb Kite Fest Set for Sunday September 11th

The Eleventh Annual DeKalb Kite Festival is Sunday, September 11th from 11am-4pm. Kite Fest will be held in a field known as the “North 40” on the campus of Northern Illinois University at Lucinda Avenue and Kishwaukee Drive in DeKalb adjacent to Anderson Hall. Admission is free, parking is $3, cash only.

“We are excited to be celebrating our 11th annual DeKalb Kite Fest thanks to the generosity of our sponsors. Many of the kites are more than 100 feet in length, are all shapes and sizes and will fill the skies over DeKalb,” stated Debbie Armstrong, Kite Fest Co-Chair. “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. “Many of them return to our festival year after year 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 games 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 and Chicago Kite.

Spectators are invited to bring lawn chairs and blankets for comfortable seating.

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 15 Wisconsin based flyers and Team Sky-FX, a new to Kite Fest quad team from Ohio. “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 Chair. “We also want to thank the participating hotels that donate complimentary hotel rooms for the kiters.”

For more information about Kite Fest, visit the DeKalb County Convention & Visitors Bureau at: www.dekalbcountycvb.com/dekalb-kite-fest/ or follow Kite Fest on Facebook at DeKalbKiteFest.