Kites will be flying high over Zilker Park as the Zilker Kite Festival returns to Austin this Sunday. This year marks the 85th edition of the festival—making it the oldest festival of its kind in the nation.
The festival was founded in 1929 by the Exchange Club of Austin and has been held at Zilker Park since it opened in 1936. The festival will last from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Twenty thousand people are expected to attend the annual free event. ABC Home & Commercial Services will be providing 5,000 free kites for anyone to fly.
Contests will be held to determine the steadiest, strongest, smallest, largest, and most unusual homemade kites. Vendors will also be selling kites or you can make your own at a Kite Making workshop.
Activities such as rock wall climbing, face painting, bungee jumping, and hula hooping will also be featured at the event as well as concessions from over forty local vendors.
Proceeds from the festival go to the Exchange Club of Austin. The group uses the money made from booth fees, concessions, kite, and merchandise sales to help local kids in abusive situations. Scholarships are also awarded to troubled high school seniors to help them attend college.
Free parking is available downtown at the state parking lots on 1604 Colorado Street and in South Austin at the Toney Burger Athletic Center on 3200 Jones Road. Shuttles will provide $2 round trip service all day for persons 12 & up. Well-behaved dogs (and kids!) ride free.
For more information, you can visit the festival website here. Each year it takes 200 to 400 volunteers to make the festival happen. You can volunteer at the festival here.
Click here for a map of street closures.
