Despite a call for showers and thunderstorms, the annual Kite Festival continued as scheduled.
Fewer than 10 kites flew in the sky at the award-winning event at Chippewa Park on Sunday. Despite the rain, participants were able to make do with the various activities inside the pavilion. Activities included face painting, demonstrations, kite building and musical performances.
Kite enthusiasts also had to manage construction on the James Street bridge, which closed one lane of traffic.
Kite Festival coordinator Jean-Paul De Roover said most of the work was completed before the event even started.
“It’s always a challenge to host an outdoor event and we do what we can and we make sure we have a variety of programs both indoors and outdoors,” De Roover said. “Certain types of kites can’t be flown with certain types of wind so it’s even more challenging than some of our other events. We make the best that we can.”
He said the out of town kite fliers weren’t able to get their huge kites up in the air but they did have miniature ones that they flew inside the pavilion.
