39th Annual Santa Barbara Kite Festival

The 2025 Santa Barbara Kite Festival has announced the theme for this year’s event – “Help One Another”. Festival Kite Master Rakesh Bahadur and Co Director David Hefferman created this year’s theme “Help One Another” to recognize how even the simple act of flying a kite together invites us all to help one another and celebrates the sharing, love, and togetherness of families and friends at the festival. The 39th Santa Barbara Kite Festival returns 11am-4pm Sunday April 13th to the Great Meadow on the West Campus lawn at Santa Barbara City College.
The “Childrens’ Tail Chase” is guaranteed to generate fun and laughter again at this year’s event. The tail chase invites groups of children (divided into similar ages), to chase and capture the tail of a kite expertly flown by Mr. Bahadur. The festival’s full schedule is packed 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”, and “Best of Fest” -recognizing the best overall kite entry and participant of the day. Finally, festival organizers will select a winner of the annual “Lion Award”- created in the memory of local legend Chad Dreier and his loving family who are long time supporters of the festival. 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.