BERKELEY, Calif. — During the annual Kite Festival and Competition of 2019, thousands of families and kite enthusiasts traveled to Cesar E. Chavez Park to view and fly kites in the windy hills overlooking the Marina. Hundreds of kites of all shapes, sizes and colors could be seen flying on that day.
Although most kites could be flown in the sky freely, controlled only by the wind, others were controlled while flying. A stunt kite is a kite that is flown with two strings instead of one, and both strings change the direction of the kite.
Stunt kite flyer John Samet said, “The two [strings] can control and alternate the direction of the kite based on how hard I pull each line.”
But these kites can be difficult to control.
“For the first hour, I drove it to the ground,” Samet said. “It’s difficult because it’s sensitive.”
The wind and its direction both play a role.
Samet said strong winds can make the kite spin at approximately 50 to 60 miles per hour; 14 to 15 miles per hour is representative of a good wind and speed.
But once a kite flyer is adept at a stunt kite, he or she can make the kite move in all directions — spinning and diving and making buzzing noises similar to stunt planes.
“I can make it dive real fast and suddenly pull up with a J-turn,” Samet said. “What I can get it to do — but it’s really difficult — is actually to make a square.”
In groups, stunt kites are often seen flying in synchronized patterns, with competitions at the kite festival on Saturday and Sunday of the last weekend in July. But for a single flyer, stunt decisions are up to the individual.
“There’s no reason to it,” Samet said. “It’s just [dependent on] how I feel.”
A stunt kite performs a spin, while viewers enjoy its movements. (Photo by Joel Lee/Teen Observer)
BERKELEY, Calif. — The 31st annual Berkeley Kite Festival was in full swing by mid-afternoon Sunday. People were flying kites, selling popcorn or ice cream or jewelry, or watching their kids ride ponies.
Michael Goran watches both professionals and amateur fly kites at the Berkeley Marina. Photo by Joelle Tan
“Outstanding. We really like the variety of kites,” Michael Goran said. He was relaxing on a grassy hill with his family while admiring the colorful kites in flight, more than 75 by 3 p.m.. It was his family’s first time there, but he said they would come again next year: “We’ve already marked it in our calendars.”
“I like it!” Victoria Varrientos, Goran’s 6-year-old granddaughter, piped up. “I like the little balls on the water. And the pirate ship,” she added. (The bouncing castle, Goran explained.)
Among the many canopied-tents there was Fookie, a business dedicated to fudge cookies. Owner Gregory Dobson said 2017 was his first year at the festival, but his third year running the business. “We just came from the Orange Country Fair,” he said.
Fookie originated in Lincoln, to the northeast of Sacramento, with an aim to become “the next Famous Amous Cookies.”
“It’s exciting here. I haven’t seen the giant kites before,” Dobson said. “It’s very family-friendly.”
The stall opened at 10:15 in the morning, and was expected to run until the festival ended at 6 p.m.
“The schedule consists of us working together and setting up together, to be as efficient as we can. We’ll definitely be coming back in future years.”
Gregory Dobson. Photo by Catherine Tu
Alongside the food stalls were those selling souvenirs, and, more memorably, bubble shooters. Jackie Medina had been running the same stall for three years and is participating in her third kite festival at Cesar Chavez Park near the Berkeley Marina.
Her bubble shooters are highly popular, and she attributes her success to the nature of the Kite Festival. “I love it. It’s very busy and family-oriented, and keeps business going,” she said.
Barresi featured his red and white quad-line kite at the Berkeley kite festival on July 30. This type of kite is anchored by four lines allowing the pilot to take control of forward/reverse motions, speed, hover and rotation motions.
BERKELEY, Calif. — The audience was in awe as the thin red-and- white kite transformed into a human-like creature, taking on actions like walking and waving. The triangular shaped kite was a stand-out crowd pleaser of the annual Berkeley Kite Festival on Sunday and standing behind the magic was 42-year-old professional kite flyer John Barresi.
Barresi has been hooked on flying kites ever since he first placed his hands on one in 1990. What started off as a small hobby has turned into Barresi’s full-time job, permitting him to fly kites in more than a dozen different countries. Barresi acknowledged that kite-flying is his true passion and he enjoys both the entertainment and competitive aspects of his occupation.
“I like to be funny with the folks,” Barresi said as he touched on his actions of comedically maneuvering his kite right into the faces of amazed Berkeley kite festival attendees.
Although, Barresi sets these lighthearted tricks aside when he takes on a much more serious persona as a competitor in kite flying tournaments.
A fairly new aspect to many, kite competitions consist of multiple different divisions most broadly separated by individual categories and team categories. Individually, Barresi participates in the “square” category, which is an evaluation of how a pilot displays straight lines and sharp turns precisely.
Barresi shares his experiences as a kite flyer with Berkeley Kite Festival attendees.
Additionally, Barresi competes in the “ballet” division, which consists of making a unique kite routine to a song of the pilot’s choice. Ballet competitions are judged on the choreography and variety of their performance. A performance to an iconic AC DC song was pointed out by Barresi as his favorite ballet production. Barresi said that the performance “took me on a journey.”
Aside from his talent individually, Barresi also leads teams of three or more in kite competitions. Within the team division groups of pilots intricately weave their lines together, creating unique visuals and stunts to later be judged on. Barresi and a teammate founded iQuad in 2006, which promotes team flying across the kite community.
Despite his talent competitively, Barresi never ceases to remember the original reason he fell in love with kites in the first place.
He has been attending the Berkeley festival for 27 years and said this one was his favorite.
“There’s just such a wide diversity of everyone,” Barresi said. He also said he enjoyed that both professionals and amateurs shared the hillsides of Cesar Chavez Park near the Berkeley Marina.
“Anybody can fly kites whether their 90 or 5,” Barresi said.
When reflecting on what advice he would give potential kite flyers, Barresi acknowledged that his talent comes from many years of practice but ultimately kite flying centers around one simple principle.
“It all comes down to relaxing,” Barresi said. And after taking one long deep breath, he explained how the peaceful aspect of kite flying should never go unnoticed.
Barresi will continue to use his passion as a passport to many unique experiences in his lifetime. He has been a flyer for 26 years, 11 months, 1 week, 3 days, 17 hours, 43 minutes, and 15 seconds, according to his website,
Barresi only hopes to spread his love for kites to more people around the world.
