White Kites pay tribute to dancing man at Southern Oregon Kite Festival

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BROOKINGS, OR (KIEM)– The colors of the rainbow captivate the sky over Brookings. But it was the white kites that stole the show at this year’s Southern Oregon Kite Festival.

Kite flyers show off their kites in the sky for the crowd. Letting string run loose so it can fly high in the air. And the person moving their kite to the beat of a song.

“That’s the first time I see the kites dancing with the music and all kinds of different designs,” said Arabela Mares, who’s visiting from Idaho.  

The Southern Oregon Kite Festival brings people from all over the United States together. They get to compete against each other in some contests. Some kite flyers come to Oregon from outside the country.

“Kite flying is almost like a meditation. You have to really focus to get it to do what you want. And so by flying, you kind of calm your brain,” said Terry Wiggill, a kite flyer from Victoria BC, Canada.

Others got introduced to kite flying through meeting someone they adore in the 70s.

“My boyfriend at the time was spending a lot of his time flying kites. If I wanted to spend time with him, I was going to spend with kites. I figured if I was going to spending that much time flying kites, I might as well do something to measure my progress. So, I started to compete,” said Susan Shampo, a Brookings Resident.

The 27th Annual Kite Festival is not the same without one man, Al Washington. People describe him as someone who likes to dance and fly kites. A tribute of white kites flows in the sky for him, and many others who are not with this close kite flying community anymore.

“Al was here at the very first festival. He was known as the dancing man. He lived in Portland. When he was younger, not only would he dance his kite in the sky, [but] his footwork was dancing along with that kite,” said Michael Pitts-Campbell, Southern Oregon Festival Pro-Tem Chairman.

To learn more about the Southern Oregon Kite Festival, go to SouthernOregonKiteFestival.com.