Planning for the 17th annual Southern Oregon Kite Festival is underway and going smoothly. The Festival will take place as always on the third weekend in July, (July 18th & 19th.). The SOKF committee has been busy getting all the many things done in order to put on an event like this. Unlike most other Kite Festivals, the SOKF has no competitions scheduled. This is strictly an exhibition, and all of the invited flyers are guests of the SOKF and the community of Brookings and Harbor. This is one of the biggest events of the year for Brookings and attracts several thousand visitors to the area.

Motels and RV Parks fill up quick, and there will probably be a waiting list at many of the restaurants around town, so motel and RV Park reservations are strongly recommended

For those that are not familiar with the flying here, it presents a challenge. The wind in July is usually very light. Occasionally we will get a day where everything comes together with a nice breeze and cool weather, when that happens it is just too much fun. In spite of the light and sometimes shifty wind the flyers seem to always put on a great show and the spectators love it. The field is small and the spectators are right at the edge of the field. They have the best view I have ever seen at a kite festival. Because they are so close, there is a lot of interaction between them and the flyers, which make us try even harder to put on a good show. Often times when we are flying the single line kites we will hand over the line to a kid in the crowd and they’re just thrilled.

Each day the Rogue Valley Windchasers put on a Free Kids Kite making Workshop. It’s great fun to see the kid’s parade around the field with their kites. If you like non stop flying by some of the best in the world, then the SOKF is the place to be.

The invitations have been sent and we have received RSVP’s from some
of the flyers. Those who have accepted their invitations include Arnold Stellema as our announcer. If you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing him announce a festival, all I can say is that he keeps it very interesting and fun. John Barresi and the iQuad team will be here to dazzle the crowd, as well as Penny Lingenfelter. John and Mary Gabby will be here as well. Mary is responsible for designing our official logo this year. “Thank you Mary”. David and Susan Gomberg will be here to try and keep those huge kites in the air, and Ellen Pardee is coming back to fly her beautiful creations. Other invited guests include Ronda Brewer and Lindsey Johnson and new this year our AKA Regional Director Amy Doran. Al Stroh, Susan Shampo, Gary MacEachern as well as myself will be representing the local community.

There are many more invited, but these are the flyers that have accepted to date.

Non Stop Flying, good food at the vendor field, a banquet and auction as well as the annual Pancake breakfast Sunday morning, makes for a busy weekend here in Brookings. Make your reservations and come enjoy the show.

     Steve Blasdell
     Chairman SOKF

For more information about the SOKF, directions and
local attractions, be sure to visit the festival web site:

http://www.sokf.org