Combine kites, friends, a great beach, great winds and some of the top fliers in the country, this makes... A Kite Party! The fifth one in as many years, to be precise.

If you're looking to shake the snow and dust off your kites, enjoy some fine southern California weather at the 5th annual Kite Party (KP5) in Huntington Beach, California... It's organized by Dave Shenkman of the Kite Connection in the same city, and was created to give fliers a place to gather without the constraints of competition, festival format or anything... All are welcome, as long as you're willing to have some fun and fly.

KP is an excellent opportunity to meet such well known fliers as Ron Graziano, Shawn Tinkham, Ron Despojado and many others, kite "personalities" such as John Chilese, kite makers such as Pam Kirk and Mike Dennis and Ron Gibian, and you'll often see some of the top kite manufacturers and designers here such as Mark Reed of Prism Kites, Jon Trennepohl of Skyburner Kites, Jim Cosca of Premier Kites, and others, depending on the year.

Flying space is a little limited on occasion, so fliers are instructed to take care and share the field with each other, and there is a firm 75' rule for length of sport kite lines to further take advantage of the space, which helps to make sure that everyone gets ample time in the air.

With so many great fliers in attendance, you'll also have the opportunity to see a few demos each day... In addition, it's a tremendous place to try almost every sport kite in existence since the fliers who generally attend also have some of the largest collections of classic and modern kites found anywhere in North America.

This year, you can also expect to see a mega Revolution team composed of iQuad, Too Much Fun and a bevy of other skilled pilots! Rumor has it that we might see designer Joe Hadzicki and Ben D'Antonio (Rev's General Manager) this year... From early estimates, we're likely to see upwards of 15 Revs in the air at the same time, which is truly an amazing sight.

If you plan on attending and are flying in, I always recommend John Wayne International in Orange County since it is significantly closer than LAX. For lodging, the host hotel is the Howard Johnson, and those who come to fly on the beach are asked to register with Dave Shenkman by email prior to arrival so they can receive a badge, or field pass.

  I hope to see you there,

    John Barresi