There is something a bit surreal about starting a festival with God Bless America and launching a giant Stars and Stripes Octopus in the main field. But then much of the 29th annual Lincoln City Kite Festival was weird this year.

Saturday was sunny and warm; Sunday was damp and cool. The tides were unusually high and peaked mid afternoon. Waves washed over the majority of the marked flying areas. Fliers stood with their back to the water and worked the lines as “sneaker” washed crotch high.

After one flight, my friend, Kevin Sanders remarked that he now understood why no one swam on the Oregon beaches. The water was very, very cold!

It was a compact festival. With fields only 30 feet deep.

And still, everyone had fun. We ran bols, watched IQuad, dropped bears, and gave away kites to kids that gathered autographs from a majority of registered kiters. We also managed to test fly several new designs.

Tuesday morning, we are off to Cape Town. The office will be closed ten days but we'll be checking email when we can so drop us a note. And plan to fly with us at the beginning of November in north Carolina for Mike Agner's Cape Fear Kite Festival.