The 2026 Santa Barbara Kite Festival

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Santa Barbara Kite Festival Rescheduled to April 19, 2026

Due to rainy weather expected this weekend, the 40^th Anniversary Santa Barbara Kite Festival has been rescheduled to Sunday, April 19, 2026in the “Great Meadow” on the West Campus lawn at Santa Barbara City College.

The “Great Meadow” is located on the West Campus of Santa Barbara City College, 721 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara, Ca 93109. Admission to the festival is free. Parking is available on both west campus and the main campus. Kites, food, and beverages can be purchased at the event.

Better weather is expected to shine on this year’s theme of “You and Me”. Festival organizers selected the theme to celebrate the cooperation, love and laughter of flying a kite together!

The “Childrens Tail Chase” will generate even more fun and laughter at the new festival date of April 19th. The tail chases feature groups of kids chasing and capturing the tail of a kite expertly flown by festival’s kite master Rakesh Bahadur. The festival schedule is full with family-friendly kite contests including “Most Beautiful” (handmade & commercial), “Highest Flying”, “Largest & Smallest Kites”, ”Youngest & Oldest Kite Flyers”, “Most Unique Or Unusual Kite”, “Funniest Kite”, “Most Unflyable Kite”, “Best Handmade Kite” (a new category), and “Best of Fest” – recognizing the best overall kite entry and participant of the day. Finally, festival organizers will select this year’s winner of the “Lion Award”- created in the memory of local legend Chad Dreier and presented by the Dreier family.

Thanks to a proclamation by the Santa Barbara City Council (2007), April is officially designated as “Kite Month” in Santa Barbara, The Santa Barbara Kite Festival has also been recognized by the city for its annual contributions to community recreation and family fun. Santa Barbara’s kite month of April is promoted in coordination with the National Kite Month of April – co-founded by the American Kite Flyers Association and the Kite Trade Association International .

For more info, visit our website at www.sbkitefest.net, our facebook page/santabarbarakitefestival, or call 805-637-6202. For info about National Kite Month go to www.nationalkitemonth.org, and www.kite.org.

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A Big, Blue Sky Thank You to Everyone Save The Date April 13, 2025!

A big, blue sky thank you to our sponsors, everyone who attended, supported, or simply loved our 2024 Santa Barbara Kite Festival! Postponed for a week due to a late season storm, the festival was happy success April 21st – thanks to Santa Barbara City College, our sponsors, wonderful food and beverage vendors, friends & families, and most of all you! Save the date for the 39th Santa Barbara Kite Festival, scheduled 11am-4pm, Sunday April 13th 2025. Please reach out to us if you would like more information on becoming a sponsor, vendor, have any questions, and or ideas about the next Santa Barbara Kite Festival. See you Sunday April 13th 2025 in the Great Meadow, on the west campus of Santa Barbara City College for the 39th Santa Barbara Kite Festival.

Festival Kite Master Rakesh Bahadur says “Lets go fly a kite!”.

40th Anniversary Santa Barbara Kite Festival Set To Fly April 12th!

2026 THEME “You And Me” ANNOUNCED

The Santa Barbara Kite Festival has announced the theme “You And Me” for the 40th Anniversary Santa Barbara Kite Festival, Sunday, April 12, 2026. The festival’s Kite Master Rakesh Bahadur, and Co-Director David Hefferman selected this year’s theme “You and Me” to celebrate the cooperation and fun in flying a kite together! The festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. The Santa Barbara Kite Festival returns 11 am – 4pm Sunday, April 12, 2026 to the Great Meadow on the West Campus lawn at Santa Barbara City College.

Festival favorites return this year including the “Childrens’ Tail Chase”. The tail chase invites groups of children (divided into similar age groups), to chase and capture the tail of a kite expertly flown by Mr. Bahadur and special guest fliers. The festival’s schedule also includes family-friendly kite contests such as “Most Beautiful” (handmade & commercial),“Highest Flying”, “Largest & Smallest Kites”, ”Youngest & Oldest Kite Flyers”, “Most Unique Or Unusual Kite”, “Funniest Kite”, “Most Unflyable Kite”, and “Best of Fest” –recognizing the best overall kite entry and participation at the event. Festival organizers will select the winner of the annual “Lion Award”- in memory of local legend Chad Dreier, and festival supporters the Dreier family. The Great Meadow is located on the west campus of Santa Barbara City College, 973 Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara, Ca 93109. Admission to the festival is free. Parking is available on both west campus and the main campus. Kites, food, and beverages can be purchased at the event.

New this year, the festival has set up a Go Fund Me Page to help fund this year’s 40^th Anniversary community festival, and for future festivals.

April was officially designated as “Kite Month” in Santa Barbara by the Santa Barbara City Council in 2007. The Santa Barbara Kite Festival is also recognized by the city for its annual contributions to community recreation and family fun. Santa Barbara’s kite month of April is promoted in coordination with the National Kite Month of April – co-founded by the American Kite Flyers Association and the Kite Trade Association International .