February 16th, 2013 | 
Author: The Isla Blanca Kite Festival was started to entertain the children from La Casita, a local orphanage. Always the last Sat and Sunday in Feb. It will be held this year on Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24, from 11 am to 4 pm each day. The location is the same as last year – the Acapulco Restaurant at the end of the road North in Isla Blanca. This event is free and open to the public. A raffle of donated items will benefit the Orphanage. All money from the raffle will benefit the orphanage. A dozen kite flyers from from the USA, and the Cancun area will join us to fly kites. We will have big kites and Revolution kites. Penny Lingenfelter will again join us to share her amazing costume routines. Ralph Reed from Boston, USA will fly big show kites. The festival signature kite the big Peter Lynn Octopus will once again dazzle and amaze. Cira Caballero a kite builder and flier from the Cancun area will fly her 150 kite arch. What is a kite arch ?. come and see.
Come and join us to enjoy the beach, the kites, and the beauty of Isla Blanca.
The Isla Blanca Kite Festival will be held this year on Saturday, February 25 and Sunday, February 26, from 11 am to 4 pm each day. The location is the same as last year – the Acapulco Restaurant at the end of the road in Isla Blanca. A dozen kite flyers from from the USA, Canada and the Cancun area will join us to fly kites. We will have big kites and Revolution kites. Penny Lingenfelter will again join us to share her amazing costume routines.
Come and join us to enjoy the beach, the kites, and the beauty of Isla Blanca.
Well, After two years of relatively smooth sailing for our little festival, the odds caught up to us. It rained on Saturday. Not all day but enough to keep us busy taking down kites then putting up kites. Ron and Tina Jakubowciz were our big kite fliers. They were exhausted by days end. No way we were going to fly the big Octopus. Marco of Perico’s restaurant had delicious food for the kids and us both days of the festival. Pericos is also where we have our festival wrap up party Sunday night. Thanks to Penny these parties are always memorable events. Three cheers for Marco and Pericos. We use the grounds of the Acapulco restaurant in Isla Blanca as our staging area. Thank you Sr Navarro. The Acapulco is at the end of the road going north in Isla Blanca. It’s at a point where the Ocean and the lagoon are only about 350 feet apart. The children from La Casita and La Gloria English school were doing their best to fly their workshop kites. The high wind was destroying the workshop Sled kites as fast as the kids put them up. Back to the drawing board. Russ has some idea’s for next year. Dorothy Stewart and Sue Fieber were busy running the kite workshop and hospital. Our Canadian friends from Cancun Barb and Lyle were on hand to help. They bought water and their friend Lulu Suarez. Roberto and Cira were back for the third year. Russ and Pat Mozier came from Florida to join the fun. Melanie Koenig was back for her second year. Penny Lingenfelter bravely flew two Rev kite ballets.
Sunday was too windy for the big Octopus and most kites. However we had a few that were up to the task. They were flying for their lives most of the day. Most of the workshop Eddy kites flew but were taking heavy casualties in broken parts. Cira had a beautiful Arch up. It probably fared best in the high wind. It was not to windy for Penny . She took full advantage of Pericos sound system as she flew ballet after ballet in her clown costume. The rev’s got a workout. The kids loved it. We liked it as well. Of course the kite boarders were loving it as they buzzed across the lagoon. At one point I counted 23 kite boarders on the water. About 35 were in attendance. Our friend Gonneke from the Netherlands was in Cancun. She came to the festival with her friend Sylvia. We had kites in their hands in minutes. My Mexican sister Maria de Loudes came and helped out. Nancy and Andy Myers who run “Give a toy, get a smile” came and bought toys for all the children on Sunday. This is the third year for “Give a toy, Get a smile”. I must get in a plug for our host hotel. The hotel Colonial in Cancun is run by excellent city hotels. Excellent city operates six hotels in the states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo Mexico. The Colonial is centrally located in downtown Cancun. They gave us very competitive rates for the festival and the fliers staying there gave very good reviews for the hotel. Easyway rent a car in Cancun furnished our van. They gave us very good service as well. Whatever I am leaving out of this post can be added later. Contact Charles at 646 249-9165 or carlosst_11369@yahoo.com for information
It was a trip long in the planning. As we boarded the plane to Cancun, the foremost question in our mind was, would the winds be right to fly the giant octopus kite?
In Cancun we were joined by American kite fliers Richard and Marti Dermer, Penny Lingenfelter and Melanie Koenig. We also had two Canadian kite fliers with us for the weekend, Bud Taylor and Sharon Musto.
We used the grounds of the Acapulco restaurant as our staging area. The Acapulco is at the end of the road going north in Isla Blanca. It’s at a point where the Ocean and the lagoon are only about 350 feet apart.
Saturday dawned a beautiful day, but the winds were strong. The kids from La Casita orphanage were already waiting when our van pulled up. The Dermers soon got them flying with their own workshop Sled kites. Unfortunately, the winds were so strong that the kite hospital had to be opened almost immediately! Soon more kids from La Gloria English School on Isla Mujeres joined us. Besides the kites, the kids had fun playing with the UFO and butterfly wind toys. They also enjoyed playing soccer on the beach. Some dressed up with Penny as creatures from Dr. Seuss. In the afternoon we had bol races. However, the wind was so strong that we put two or three kids on one bol, and some smaller kids had an adult to help keep them from flying away.
At the beach we were joined by local kite fliers Roberto and Cari, who we met at last years festival. They helped show the children how to fly their kites. Cari also courageously translated “The Cat in the Hat” into Spanish for Penny!
The kite boarders from Morph Kite Boarding School were out in force, and it was a thrilling sight to see them skimming over the shallow waters of the lagoon.
Bud and Sharon helped paint the sky with lifters that held up a whole basket of line laundry. Bud and Melanie are both kite aerial photographers, and got some amazing shots of the festival from the air. David Furchtgott from Morph Kite Boarding had his video camera out and caught a lot of shots that he put up on Flickr. Watch the video.
After hot dogs, a drink, and chips provided by Let’s Fly Kites at the Restaurant Acapulco, it was time to wind down. Each kid went home with a small toy provided by Andy and Nancy Myers from “Give a Gift, Get a Smile”.
Sunday the winds were 10-12 miles an hour, and blew steadily. Perfect weather for the octopus! Both the octopus and the kite arch that the Dermers put up got a lot of attention from the beach goers who strolled by. The kids also enjoyed the “cat” that the Dermers were flying. The boys from La Casita impressed the Dermers and the crowd by creating a kite train from their sled kites. This year they had eleven sleds on one line. With a average separation of about seventy five feet per kite the top sled was really high. Shall we go for more next year?
The kite boarders did not have enough wind Sunday, but they enjoyed relaxing on the beach and watching the colorful spectacle that filled the sky.
Everyone had a great time, and we are all looking forward to doing it again next year on the last weekend in February. You are welcome as well. We will have a great host hotel, a food sponsor. and a beautiful location to fly kites.
