Milwaukee Kite Party

The skies over Veteran’s Park in Milwaukee will be a lot more colorful next weekend when the Gift of Wings Frank Mot’s International Kite Festival returns for its 44th installment.

As the long name indicates, the event features a whole bunch of kites. There are performances scheduled by precision kite-flying teams, which are apparently a thing, as well as some giant kites from Canada. They’re also giving away free kites to the first 100 kids in attendance.

The Gift of Wings has been operating a retail location in the park since 1987. It started as a 100-square-foot kiosk and has now grown to 1,200 square feet and includes a concession stand.

Most of our memories of flying kites involve running at top speed with one of those cheap drug store models dragging across the ground close behind, so we’re going to assume a group of kite aficionados have a system for getting the things into the air consistently.

The long-range forecast looks decent. But even if there is a thunderstorm, you could pull a Ben Franklin and see if you can discover something. He tied a key to his kite string to prove lighting had an electric charge. Maybe you can attach a beef stick and a cheese curd to yours and see if you create some kind of new super snack. Use your imagination; something great is bound to happen.

The hot kite-flying action runs from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday and from 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday, with a Grand Launch featuring 600 kites at noon. Parking at the event is free.