Smithsonian Kite Festival 2009 on the National Mall in Washington, DC

The Smithsonian Kite Festival is an annual event that is traditionally a part of the festivities at the National Cherry Blossom Festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Kite enthusiasts show off their stunt skills and compete for awards in over 36 categories including aerodynamics, beauty, box, and funniest. Top prizes are given for the Theme Award, People’s Choice, Family Trophy, and Highest Overall Score. The Smithsonian's Kite Festival is one of the most popular annual events in Washington, DC and features kite fliers from across the U.S. and the world.

Date and Time: Saturday, March 28, 2009, 10am to 4pm
Rain date: Sunday, March 29, 2009 - Check back for updates

Location: On the grounds of the National Mall, between 4th & 7th Streets, NW Washington, DC. The most convenient Metro stations are Smithsonian and Federal Triangle. For more information about getting to the festival, see Cherry Blossom Festival Transportation Guide

See Photos of the Smithsonian Kite Festival

This year’s festival will explore using natural resources such as bamboo and recyclable goods such as paper and cloth to create environmentally and thematically “green” kites. Activities will include hands-on activities and demonstrations by kite flyers from Switzerland and the Czech Republic. The West Indian American Kiters Association and Tobago Flying Colours will demonstrate how to make kites with recycled material, the Embassy of Sweden will present a living green exhibit, and the Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America program will educate spectators about wind power.

Kite Flying Competitive Events

The two most exciting and competitive events are The Hot Tricks Shootout and the Rokkaku Battle.

The Hot Tricks Shootout is a stunt kite flying competition. Pairs of fliers compete against each other to see who can do the most interesting tricks in a 30 second countdown. At the end of each 30-second segment, the flier changes and every 3 minutes a winner is determined for each round. Winners of each of the rounds stay in the competition and the flier who is left at the end of all rounds is the winner of the event.

The Rokkaku Battle is held at the end of the day when individuals or teams try to cut or ground the other kites. The last kite in the sky wins the contest.

Schedule of Events

10 a.m. - Opening ceremony - registration begins
10:15 a.m. - Kite maker/master kite maker competition begins
Noon - Kite maker/master kite maker competition breaks; children’s competition begins
12:30 p.m. - Registration ends
1 p.m. - Children’s competition ends, children’s award ceremony, kite maker/master, kite maker competition resumes
2 p.m. - Competition is completed. Hot Tricks Showdown
3 p.m. - Rokkaku Challenge and kite maker/master kite maker awards ceremony begins

The Smithsonian Kite Festival is sponsored by The Smithsonian Associates and the National Air and Space Museum. For more information call (202) 357-3030 or see the official web site.

See also the schedule of events at the National Cherry blossom festival