What can be just two inches wide or up to 90-feet long, can fight or dance on command and flies through the air over Lincoln City every summer? Nope, it’s not a mutant seagull … It’s a kite! [series: oregon-field-guide-summer-series,left,5928a17a83e94d0069d25cb5]
The Lincoln City Summer Kite Festival is one of the largest in the country, bringing tourists to D River Wayside State Recreation Site each year to watch hundreds of colorful kites take to the skies.
The kites range in shape and size, with some measuring more than 90-feet long and weighing over 35 pounds.
Specialty events like Rokkaku, a style of Japanese kite fighting, and synchronized team stunts give “featured fliers” a chance to show their stuff; but anyone with a kite and a string is welcome to join in the fun.
“You can’t swim in the ocean, so what do you do when you come to the beach?” asks David Gomber, a Rokkaku world champion and Lincoln City resident. “The answer to that is, you fly a kite.”
Interested fliers can learn more at the Lincoln City Summer Kite Festival website.