BERKELEY, Calif. — Kites aren’t just for kids anymore, and there were thousands of people there to attest to that at this city’s annual festival.
Mark Baker, who has participated in the festival for the last 12 years, said he has been making kites with his brother since he was a kid. The two took almost five years to build their first kite.
Baker thought his kite-flying days were long gone, but the festival provided him with a place to show off the kite that he created almost 40 years ago along with many more.
The family-oriented event attracted thousands of spectators as well as experienced kite-flyers. Ellen McCormick, here for the first time at the Cesar Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina, said she enjoyed strolling along the gravel path with her grandson and viewing all of the activities.
“It’s a lot more than I expected,” McCormick said. She discovered a petting zoo, face painting, food vendors, candy drops, zip lines, DJs and an international audience and entertainers.
One of those was the celebration and recognition of Japanese traditions. Nao Nagawa, a drummer for a group of traditional Japanese performers, says that the main goal of the show is “… to spread Japanese culture.” The dancing, music and demonstration of a bow are all meant to display aspects of this heritage.
The International Association of Tako Age had special handmade kites soaring throughout the grounds of the festival.
One of the kite-flying members, Dennis Rodgers, has been an avid participant over the last seven years and always brings his family to help him fly his kite.
Rodgers thinks of this event as a way of “turning the sky into an ocean,” as “Tako” means both “squid” and “kite” in Japanese.