Kite festival to breeze into Livingston
The fifth annual family gathering that celebrates getting outside and flying a kite is Saturday in Livingston.
The free Kite Festival, hosted by the Knights of Columbus, is from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Livingston Middle School, 101 F St.
The festival has been known to draw about 5,000 people, who take part in flying kites of all shapes. Organizers also bring enough materials for about 500 children to make their own kites.
Members from a kite club join the festivities every year, bringing with them huge kites a dozen feet long or larger in the shape of a gecko, dragon, plane or octopus, to name a few.
The festival will feature a landing by the Merced County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, a pie-eating contest by the Livingston Rotary Club, face painting, bounce houses and pony rides.
The day will include the Jim Strealy Memorial Sugar-Free Candy Drop, which features a large kite that drops candy from dozens of feet in the air.
The Livingston area will have pleasant weather the day of the festival, according to Brian Ochs, a meteorologist with the National Weather Center in Hanford. “Looks like a nice, sunny day,” he said Wednesday.
Winds are expected to be light early in the day at 2 to 3 mph and increase to 7 to 8 mph by afternoon, Ochs said. The day’s high temperature is expected to reach about 78 degrees.
Proceeds from fundraising efforts at the festival benefit local youth sports.
For more information, a vendor application and contest rules, go to http://livingstonkitefestival.com or call 209-277-1402.
Know and go
Livingston Kite Festival
When: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
Where: Livingston Middle School, 101 F St.
No cost
This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 11:58 AM with the headline "Kite festival to breeze into Livingston."