Granary Road’s first kite festival takes off this weekend

A stock photo of a kite. (Unsplash/Aaron Burden)

Granary Road is hosting its first kite festival this weekend.

Organizers say Kite Fest is a celebration of the wind and the sky above the outdoor activity park, which is located about 10 minutes south of Calgary.

Kite Fest will be held on Saturday and Sunday, in collaboration with The Kite Guys.

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Owner Bud Taylor has been flying kites for much of his life and has travelled to festivals all over North America teaching people of all ages how to fly kites – which is one of his greatest passions.

“It’s hard to explain,” Taylor said. “I just get this tingling throughout me, I get a rush and I just have to go outside and play.”

“I like playing with the wind; it gets a little bit crazy at times, but I can put up with it.”

Taylor will be hosting kite building classes at Kite Fest.

“We’ve got over 400 little kites that we brought for our kite making classes,” he said. “I’ve got another couple hundred just in case – and we’ve also filled the store up with quite a bit of some good beginner, inexpensive kites.”

Taylor says flying a kite is truly a family-friendly activity, and the earlier kids start the better.

“I used to put my kids in a [carrier], and we would go out and fly kites; and my little guy would be in the [carrier], and he’s flying a little parallel kite that just likes to wiggle around, and he’s in his glory – so age doesn’t matter.

“I know that I’ve flown kites with people that are well in their 90s.”

Annabelle Evong, Granary Road spokesperson, says she has fond memories of kite flying.

“I always used to go out in the field with my parents when we lived in town and we’d fly all these different sorts of kites,” she said. “I remember I had this princess kite when I was really young, and I used to always love going out and flying it.”

Granary Road also has a variety of kites on display in the food court that demonstrate just how many different shapes and colors kites can be.

“We have 17 professional kite fliers, and they’re just really versed in doing different tricks and stuff like that,” Evong said. “And they’re good for helping younger kids and teaching those who are willing to learn that want to do new tricks.”

For more information on the event, you can visit Granary Road’s website.