From the Solomon’s Bridge drivers had a terrific view of a medley of kites in the Calvert sky on Sunday. Lexington Park resident, Steve Combs, joked to his partner, “What is it, Fly a Kite Day?” as they headed into Solomon’s. Actually, it was.

Sunday was Calvert Museum’s first ever Fly a Kite Day. They invited down Wings Over Washington Kite Club, a group that is involved in many festivals throughout the region, to administer the event. WOW members meet the first Sunday of every month to fly kites at the Washington Monument. “The season runs pretty much all year,” said Cathy, a member of WOW. Their flyers even head out in the bad weather wearing special “foul weather gear,” she told The Bay Net. Fortunately little more than shorts and an occasional sweater were needed for Sunday’s event.

“We have a little bit of everything on our field today,” said Cathy. WOW has three divisions of novice, experienced, and masters level kite flyers. On Sunday many of the children were making their own single string kites to fly in the wind, but there was also a special section reserved for stunt kites – the two and four string variety.

 
 The Bay Net Photo by Anna Bedford

For the non-flyers of the younger variety there were bubbles to watch dancing in the air, in addition to the numerous colorful kites flown by others.

Some enjoyed watching their kites in the breeze, or the thrill of getting them off the ground, but more serious flyers, such as WOW members find more to flying a kite. “We have competitions,” Cathy told The Bay Net, “such as kite ballet or precision, and there were also kite battles last weekend at the Smithsonian Kite Festival, where each participant built their own kite and brought it with them.” Some of the competitions and festivals even draw an international crowd to Maryland and D.C. – “We have a lot of people coming from Munich each year,” noted Cathy.

 “There’s no age limit,” said Cathy. “We have an 8 year old in the masters section, whose father is a flyer and who has been flying kites since he could walk. We also have older flyers, and some who are in wheelchairs.”   

If you would like to find out more about kite flying and WOW, you can visit their website for upcoming events, local clubs, and more information. See the slideshow below for more pictures of Sunday’s event in Solomon’s