Weekend festivals offer family time, kites

Events boast 'kite ballet,' speedball toss

Kites and kids are always a fun match-up.

This weekend, Moses Lake High School will play host to both.

Beginning at 9 a.m., both the Moses Lake Annual Kite Festival and the annual Celebrate Kids and Families Festival will be held at MLHS.

The kite festival, sponsored by the Moses Lake Business Association, will be held until 4 p.m. Saturday and then from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday in the MLHS gold gym and back practice field.

"This is the third year we've done it," said MLBA director Sally Goodwin. She said that a number of kite-flying organizations and groups will be in attendance, flying and offering instruction, as well as flying kites with multiple strings and some indoor kite-flying without the use of fans.

"It's really remarkable," Goodwin said. "(They call it) kite ballet because it's very regimented; it's beautiful."

There is no price of admission. Some kites will be for sale, and the festival will have a booth Saturday at the Celebrate Kids and Families Festival

"If your family has a kite, bring the bunch and just have a fun time," Goodwin said. "It's really pretty to see all these different kites floating in the sky."

Meanwhile, the 11th annual Celebrate Kids and Families Festival will have different booths set up in the main gymnasium that offer interactive activities for the kids, said Carol Conley, director of the Youth Partnership Task Force, which is the over-all sponsor of the event.

"It is a free all-day family festival for kids and their parents, family friends and anyone who wants to come," Conley said.

Beginning at 9:30 a.m., the festival will offer entertainment throughout the day. Conley said that Moses Lake Cub Scout Pack 67 will lead the group in a flag salute, and eight groups will be performing, including the Peninsula Elementary Unicycle Group Students and the Moses Lake School of Karate.

A speedball toss will be offered in the maroon gym where kids can have their throws clocked by the Moses Lake Police Department's radar gun, Conley said, and prizes will be given out to those who throw the fastest in their age group.

Other activities include face painting, outdoor exhibits, scoliosis screening and backpack safety, wood crafts, spin and win wheels and glow germs.

"We recommend that adults either donate a dollar or a can of food," Conley said. "All of that is donated to the Moses Lake Food Bank."