A local mom, with a handful of volunteers, is running the second annual Brooklyn Kite Festival near Brooklyn Bridge Park today, Saturday, June 23.
So, come fly a kite with your kids from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pier 1 at Harbor View Lawn, Brooklyn Bridge Park. Join the fest for kites and ice cream on the gorgeous Brooklyn waterfront.
The organizer, Angie Chait who used to live in Park Slope but now lives in Prospect Heights, said she got the idea to hold a kite festival after going to one with her son when he was 10 months old.
“He was mesmerized by the kites and I realized we needed one of these in Brooklyn,” Chait told Patch. “I pulled it together in a short amount of time (two months) on a shoestring budget with volunteers from the community.”
The first year they had an enthusiastic response with almost 2,000 people. She said that there was a line of people stretching down the hill an hour before they opened the lawn.
The event is for kids ages zero to 12 and their families. In addition to flying kites, they will have an Arts & Crafts tent where kids can decorate and draw kites.
People are welcome to bring their own kites to fly or purchase one on-site. They will have kites of a wide variety of sizes and prices on hand.
There will also be a raffle, where participants can enter to win a kite-related package: a t-shirt from the Kite Festival, a kite used to film the new movie “Patang” about an Indian kite festival, as well as a poster from the film and ice cream gift certificates.
The event is sponsored by Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Community Partners, Park Slope Parents and Little Things Toy Store in Park Slope.
But, Chait said she welcomes more.
“This is an extremely grassroots effort, and we would love the participation of more sponsors to help facilitate holding the festival in the future,” she said.
“This is a great event put on by members of the community to provide a free and fun event for local kids,” Chait said.
