MILWAUKEE — Whales, seahorses and octopi can fly above the lakefront this weekend at the 36th year of the Family Kite Festival.
Gift of Wings is hosting the festival presented by Tri-state IKEA stores from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 27 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 28 at Veterans Park.
Owner of Gift of Wings Scott Fisher said hundreds of kites will fly in unison from professional kite flying teams like The Fabulous Windjammers and Chicago Fire Kite Team.
“It’s sort of like the Blue Angles, only with kites and music,” said Fisher.
Each kite performer will fly up to 12 kites at once that are tied in a specially-assembled train. The colors and shapes are endless, including a rainbow-hued trilobite (an ancient marine arthropod) and two enormous whales.
Amateurs can participate in the festival, too: A grand launch of kites takes place both days at 12 p.m. for festival-goers to sail their own kites. If you don’t have one, Gift of Wings sells kites and kite-flying accessories at its Veterans Park store and Greendale location.
“We want to see how many kites we can get in the air all at the same time,” said Fisher. “We do that to Mary Poppins ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’.”
Another activity for the public is the Kids Mad Dash. The first 100 kids to sign up each day receive a free kite to participate in a contest — whomever gets their kite the highest in 60 seconds wins a prize.
Fisher said to expect some detangling of kite strings this weekend, especially after the kids activity.
The event is free to attend.