4th Annual Misquamicut Kite Festival
4th Annual Misquamicut Kite Festival fills the sky above Wuskenau Town Beach with color Saturday, September 12, as the free family festival returns to the Westerly shoreline from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Presented by the Misquamicut Business Association, the annual event is open to everyone, whether you’re bringing a favorite kite from home, picking up a children’s kite kit at the beach or simply coming to watch.
There’s also a little friendly competition involved.
Organizers will award a $100 prize for the Best in Show kite, creating plenty of incentive to bring something more ambitious than the old plastic diamond kite that’s been sitting in the garage.
But competition isn’t really the point.
The invitation from organizers is simpler: bring your creativity, bring the family and help fill the sky above Misquamicut with color.
Four Years of Kites Over Misquamicut
The Misquamicut Kite Festival is still a relatively young tradition.
The Misquamicut Business Association launched the event in 2023, and it has returned to Wuskenau Town Beach each September since.
The second annual festival was held in 2024.
The third followed on September 6, 2025.
Now the festival returns for its fourth year on September 12, 2026, retaining the same four-hour format from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
There’s an appealing simplicity to the concept.
No tickets.
No complicated schedule.
No need to know anything about kite flying before arriving.
Just a beach, the Atlantic wind and as many kites as people can get into the air.
Bring a Kite or Pick Up a Kids Kite Kit
Families don’t necessarily need to arrive equipped.
Kids kite kits will be available on site, giving younger visitors an opportunity to get into the air even if they don’t already own a kite.
Those who do have one are encouraged to bring it.
That leaves plenty of room for everything from inexpensive children’s kites to homemade creations and the more elaborate designs that will compete for Best in Show.
The festival’s $100 prize provides a reason for experienced kite builders and creative families to put some effort into their entry.
And a kite festival has an advantage over many competitions.
Even the entries that don’t win become part of the show.
Why the Beach Is Such a Good Place to Fly
Anyone who tried to fly a kite in a backyard as a child probably remembers the frustrating part.
Run.
Watch it rise.
Watch it stall.
Run faster.
Watch it crash.
Try again.
The beach removes some of those problems.
Oceanfront locations tend to offer more consistent wind because there are fewer buildings, trees and other obstructions disrupting the airflow.
Wuskenau Town Beach opens directly onto the Atlantic, providing the combination kite flyers want: a large open area and coastal wind.
That doesn’t guarantee perfect conditions. Wind speed and direction still matter, and a very windy day can actually make flying more difficult.
But when conditions cooperate, a beach can turn kite flying from an exercise in sprinting into something much more satisfying.
Get the kite above the turbulent air close to the ground and let the wind do the work.
There’s More Going On Up There Than String and Wind
A kite stays in the sky through the same basic aerodynamic forces involved in aircraft flight.
Wind moves across the kite’s surface and produces lift.
The kite string provides tension, while gravity and drag pull in other directions. The kite’s shape, angle to the wind, tail and bridle help keep those competing forces balanced.
Change one thing and the kite behaves differently.
A tail isn’t merely decorative, for example. It can add drag and stability, helping prevent some kite designs from spinning or diving.
That’s why homemade kite building can quickly become an accidental science experiment for kids.
Change the shape.
Move the bridle.
Add a tail.
Remove some weight.
Try again.
The immediate feedback is difficult to miss.
Either it flies or it doesn’t.
Kite Flying Is Much Older Than the American Beach Vacation
The idea of putting something on the end of a string and sending it into the sky goes back thousands of years.
Kites are generally believed to have originated in ancient China, where suitable materials such as silk and bamboo allowed builders to create lightweight structures capable of flight.
They eventually spread through Asia and into other parts of the world.
And kites weren’t always toys.
Over the centuries, people used them for military signaling, measuring distances, scientific experiments and meteorological observations.
One of the most famous American experiments came in 1752, when Benjamin Franklin used a kite during his investigations into electricity and lightning.
More than a century later, experiments with kites helped researchers understand aerodynamics during the period leading toward powered flight.
By the time beach communities like Misquamicut developed into popular vacation destinations, kites had become firmly established as recreational objects.
It’s hard to imagine a more natural pairing.
Wuskenau Is the Town Beach Beside Misquamicut State Beach
Visitors who haven’t heard the name Wuskenau Town Beach may still know exactly where it is.
The Westerly-owned beach sits at 311 Atlantic Avenue, immediately beside Misquamicut State Beach.
It’s also sometimes called New Town Beach locally.
The location provides direct access to the broad sandy shoreline that has made Misquamicut one of Rhode Island’s best-known beach communities.
Wuskenau is a simpler facility than the larger state beach next door, but that’s not much of a drawback for a kite festival.
The attraction Saturday is overhead.
Misquamicut Has Been Reinventing the Beach Season
The festival also fits a larger effort by the Misquamicut Business Association to make the beach community more than a July-and-August destination.
The association organizes events throughout the year, including the Misquamicut Springfest, FallFest, Drive-In Movies and other community programming.
The Kite Festival arrives at an interesting point on the calendar.
By September 12, the peak summer vacation season is winding down. Schools are back in session. The crowds of midsummer have begun to thin.
But southeastern Connecticut and southwestern Rhode Island still have weeks of potentially beautiful coastal weather ahead.
The ocean doesn’t disappear after Labor Day.
Neither does the beach.
A free Saturday kite festival gives families a reason to come back.
A Good Kite Can Be Almost Anything
For people thinking about entering the Best in Show competition, kite design has moved far beyond the familiar diamond.
There are delta kites.
Box kites.
Parafoils.
Cellular kites.
Dragons.
Animals.
Geometric designs.
And enormous inflatable creations that can turn a kite festival into something resembling an airborne parade.
Some designs are engineered primarily for performance.
Others are essentially flying artwork.
The festival hasn’t announced restrictive design categories for its Best in Show competition, leaving plenty of room for imagination.
That makes the contest accessible to kids as well as serious hobbyists.
A technically sophisticated kite might be impressive.
So might something completely ridiculous that actually flies.
You Don’t Need a Kite to Enjoy This One
That’s another advantage of the Misquamicut Kite Festival.
Spectators get essentially the same view as participants.
The entire sky becomes the display.
Families can walk the beach, watch the different designs go up, see which creations stay aloft and which require a little more persuasion, and take in an early September afternoon beside the Atlantic.
Admission is free.
The festival runs for four hours.
And there’s no obligation to participate.
But considering kids kite kits will be available at the beach, staying strictly on the spectator side may prove difficult for families with younger children.
Details
Event: 4th Annual Misquamicut Kite Festival
Date: Saturday, September 12, 2026
Time: 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
Location: Wuskenau Town Beach
Address: 311 Atlantic Avenue, Westerly, RI 02891
Admission: Free
Ages: All ages
Participation: Open to everyone
Kites: Bring your own kite; kids kite kits will also be available on site
Competition: Best in Show Kite
Prize: $100
Presented By: Misquamicut Business Association
Setting: Outdoors on the beach
Weather: Kite flying and outdoor activities are weather-dependent
Parking: Wuskenau Town Beach has town-operated parking lots along Atlantic Avenue; check current Town of Westerly parking requirements before arriving
Event Contact: Misquamicut Business Association, 401-322-1026
Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.