Do people fly kites anymore or is this "old hat" today?

Kite flying is as big or bigger than ever. There are big festivals all over the country including this one.

I love flying kites for myself and with my kids!

I never saw the appeal myself, as a kid we would occasionally fly a kite with our parents or grand-parents, but to be honest rarely. I’ve tried it with my grand-daughter but it’s just not my thing.
I have friends in England who are in a kite club, BIG events and meetings and big business apparently. they are out at meetings a lot and go on about the types of kites and stuff but it sounds daft to me. However, it’s thier thing and I respect that. Some of the kitres they fly are amazing, huge, elaborate, shaped like just about everything going, but still dull to me…........
Must be like Marmite – you love it or you hate it.

If only it was like in Mary Poppins.
“let’s go fly a kite, up to the highest height…..........etc”

I think that people still do, but I haven’t seen any kites in awhile. Then again, it’s winter. I love kites and wouldn’t mind flying one myself sometime when the weather is appropriate for it.

I’m considerably young and if we had enough wind around here I would love to fly a kite. That is definitely not old hat.

I don’t really know if people look forward to a kite flying month anymore but I do know the activity still happens. I’ve seen a kite or two flying in my subdivision in the past year but it seems like a hobby or past time that isn’t as prevalent as it used to be. I flew kites once in a while when I was a youngster and I knew I enjoyed it back then. I probably would now too except that I don’t have a kite and I think it would be more enjoyable to fly a kite with several others flying one at the same time in the same place.

My family tried flying kites a couple of years ago. We never made them ourselves, and the ones we bought just kept breaking or crashing. Maybe my kite-flying technique could use some improvements, but I never got to have any positive experiences with kites. There is still a popular annual kite festival here though, so it appears the pastime is still alive and well.

Thanks everyone for the answers and especially Marina for the site info. good to know my love of kites is not dead. kites provide great memories for children. to launch a kite and watch it float through the air, gives one a sense of accompllishment. john

@john65pennington – except when the kite doubles back and heads toward you at 1000 miles an hour like a dart and then, no matter how hard you bob and weave and zig and zag, it dooshes you on the head! lol
(and yes, it’s happened to me)

My girlfriend loves to fly kites, and my kids love to do it with her.

We went to a Kite Festival at the Berkeley Marina last summer in California. Thousands and thousands of kites were being flown. It was spectacular!

Also, you might want to read or see The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini for a take on kite flying in another culture – Afghanistan.

I have never flow a kite successfully. For me it has always been old hat. But I do still see people flying kites. On our trip to Delaware, there were a lot of people flying kites on the beach..

Every spring we go buy kites and fly them. My dad taught me as a kid how to get them going and I’m still pretty good at it today. The kids think its so fun.

I’ve been meaning to try it for a couple years now. I guess I should stop putting it off. Thanks for reminding me! :)

@janbb Great book, and the kite scene in the movie was beautiful!

We have a couple of really big kites that look like airplanes. If there’s a particular name for them, I don’t know what it is, but they are great for flying on the beach on a windy day. We probably take the kites to the beach a few times a year, on days when the wind is right. The kids love it, and it wears them out nicely. :)