International Kite Festival To Fly Into Wildwood Memorial Day weekend

Wildwood, NJ, May 7, 2008 - The horizon of Wildwood, NJ, will overflow with an amazing array of colorful flying creations of all shapes and sizes Memorial Day weekend, as the 23rd Annual Wildwoods International Kite Festival and East Coast Stunt Kite Championships take to the skies.

The largest kite festival in North America, every kind of kite imaginable will be at the event, from traditional kites to enormous inflatable creatures flown by professional kite flyers, members of local and out-of-state kite clubs and interested spectators who register with the event. 

The four-day festival will be held Friday, May 23, through Monday, May 26, on the Rio Grande Avenue beach adjacent to the Wildwoods Convention Center and inside the center's 75,000 square-foot exhibition hall, where free kite building and indoor kite flying workshops will be held, along with an exhibition of today's most popular kites and kite flying equipment and accessories.

"Wildwood's huge beaches make this festival one of the biggest and best in the world, and when you add in sea breezes and sunshine it's hard to imagine finding a better place anywhere to fly a kite or a festival that is more fun than this one," said Beatrix Pelton, proprietor of Sky Festival Productions, which produces the festival.

This year's competition is highlighted by several American Kitefliers Association award winners and some of the nation's best sport kite pilots and kite makers, including Mike Agner, of Wilmington, NC, Ron Gibian, of Visalia, CA, Jose Sainz, of San Diego, CA, David Gomberg, of Neotsu, OR, Al Sparling, of Naperville, IL, Scott Skinner, of Monument, CO, and Phil McConnachie, of Adelaide, Australia.  The event also will have kite clubs participating from across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Virginia and Washington, among others.

Each day of the festival is filled with activities.  Friday offers a `kids school kite program' in the convention center, beginning at 10:00 a.m., a kite flying show on the beach at Noon and a glowing, glittering, illuminated night kite fly at 9:00 p.m.

On Saturday the festival opens at 9:00 a.m. with the kite exhibition and free kite making workshops in the convention center, kite flying lessons on the beach and special iQuad - nine person, quad-line kite ballet performances.  It also is the first day of the East Coast Stunt Kite Championships (ECSKC) which begins on the beach at 9:30 a.m. and continues throughout the day with a series of Masters, Experienced and Novice competitions in Precision (stunt kite) and Ballet (choreographed to music) kite flying.  There also will be a fighter kite demonstration on the beach at 10:00 a.m. and candy-laden kites will shower the spectators when a kite candy drop takes place at 11:00 a.m. 

In the afternoon Saturday, indoor kite flying lessons will be offered in the convention center and another candy drop will take place on the beach at 1:00 p.m.  At 2:30 p.m., the `Running of the Bols' is held on the beach - a 100 foot race with participants harnessed to a huge parachute style kite to create wind resistance as they run, followed by an indoor kite flying show at 3:15 p.m.  Award ceremonies for the day's ECSKC competitions will be held at 3:30 and the `Great Kite Auction,' featuring a variety of kites and collectibles, takes place in the convention center at 7:00 p.m.

Sunday again features the kite exhibition, kite making workshops, kite flying lessons and the iQuad performances beginning at 9:00 a.m.  The series of ECSKC pairs and team competitions in precision and ballet kite flying begins at 9:30, followed at 11:00 by the fighter kite demonstration and a mega-iQuad event at 11:30.  The first candy drop of the day will be at Noon, and then the exciting `Japanese Rokkaku Challenges' at 12:30 - competitions between 4-foot-diameter, six-sided battle kites.  Indoor kite flying lessons are offered at 1:00, as well as another candy drop and the Running of the Bols at 2:00, and an indoor kite ballet show at 2:30.

Monday's activities are highlighted by a world indoor kite competition at the convention center at 9:00 a.m., followed by a `Tricks Party' - a new kind of sport kite competition requiring mandatory tricks in each routine - on the beach at 11:00.

Participant registration forms and program schedules of the 23rd Annual Wildwoods International Kite Festival and East Coast Stunt Kite Championships will be available at the Wildwood Convention Center throughout Memorial Day Weekend.  For additional information, e-mail Sky Festivals Productions at info@skyfestivals.com or contact the Wildwoods Tourism Authority toll-free at 1-800-WW-BY-SEA (1-800-992-9732) or on the web at www.WildwoodsNJ.com.


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About the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority

The Greater Wildwoods Tourism Authority was formed in 1993 as the Greater Wildwood Tourism Improvement and Development Authority (GWTIDA) to consolidate the tourism economy of its three founding municipalities, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest and North Wildwood. The Authority operates the Wildwoods Convention Center and acts as the island's destination marketing organization overseeing the development, research, planning, marketing, advertising, promotion, public and media relations encompassing the tourism, meeting and convention industry in the Wildwoods. Additionally, the GWTIDA funds, assists with and hosts more than 160 annual special events to enhance the visitor experience and extend the tourism season, including the Thunder On The Sand Race Series, Family Nights On The Boardwalk, Fireworks, Pirates Weekend, Classic Car Shows, International Kite Festival, Irish and Italian Festivals and the National Marbles Tournament, among others. For more information on the Wildwoods, contact the GWTIDA at 1-800-WW-By-Sea (800-992-9732) or visit its web site, www.WildwoodsNJ.com.

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