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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260912T110000
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SUMMARY:4th Annual Misquamicut Kite Festival
DESCRIPTION: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. \nPresented 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. \nThere’s also a little friendly competition involved. \nOrganizers 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. \nBut competition isn’t really the point. \nThe invitation from organizers is simpler: bring your creativity\, bring the family and help fill the sky above Misquamicut with color. \nFour Years of Kites Over Misquamicut\nThe Misquamicut Kite Festival is still a relatively young tradition. \nThe Misquamicut Business Association launched the event in 2023\, and it has returned to Wuskenau Town Beach each September since. \nThe second annual festival was held in 2024. \nThe third followed on September 6\, 2025. \nNow 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. \nThere’s an appealing simplicity to the concept. \nNo tickets. \nNo complicated schedule. \nNo need to know anything about kite flying before arriving. \nJust a beach\, the Atlantic wind and as many kites as people can get into the air. \nBring a Kite or Pick Up a Kids Kite Kit\nFamilies don’t necessarily need to arrive equipped. \nKids 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. \nThose who do have one are encouraged to bring it. \nThat 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. \nThe festival’s $100 prize provides a reason for experienced kite builders and creative families to put some effort into their entry. \nAnd a kite festival has an advantage over many competitions. \nEven the entries that don’t win become part of the show. \nWhy the Beach Is Such a Good Place to Fly\nAnyone who tried to fly a kite in a backyard as a child probably remembers the frustrating part. \nRun. \nWatch it rise. \nWatch it stall. \nRun faster. \nWatch it crash. \nTry again. \nThe beach removes some of those problems. \nOceanfront locations tend to offer more consistent wind because there are fewer buildings\, trees and other obstructions disrupting the airflow. \nWuskenau Town Beach opens directly onto the Atlantic\, providing the combination kite flyers want: a large open area and coastal wind. \nThat doesn’t guarantee perfect conditions. Wind speed and direction still matter\, and a very windy day can actually make flying more difficult. \nBut when conditions cooperate\, a beach can turn kite flying from an exercise in sprinting into something much more satisfying. \nGet the kite above the turbulent air close to the ground and let the wind do the work. \nThere’s More Going On Up There Than String and Wind\nA kite stays in the sky through the same basic aerodynamic forces involved in aircraft flight. \nWind moves across the kite’s surface and produces lift. \nThe 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. \nChange one thing and the kite behaves differently. \nA tail isn’t merely decorative\, for example. It can add drag and stability\, helping prevent some kite designs from spinning or diving. \nThat’s why homemade kite building can quickly become an accidental science experiment for kids. \nChange the shape. \nMove the bridle. \nAdd a tail. \nRemove some weight. \nTry again. \nThe immediate feedback is difficult to miss. \nEither it flies or it doesn’t. \nKite Flying Is Much Older Than the American Beach Vacation\nThe idea of putting something on the end of a string and sending it into the sky goes back thousands of years. \nKites 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. \nThey eventually spread through Asia and into other parts of the world. \nAnd kites weren’t always toys. \nOver the centuries\, people used them for military signaling\, measuring distances\, scientific experiments and meteorological observations. \nOne of the most famous American experiments came in 1752\, when Benjamin Franklin used a kite during his investigations into electricity and lightning. \nMore than a century later\, experiments with kites helped researchers understand aerodynamics during the period leading toward powered flight. \nBy the time beach communities like Misquamicut developed into popular vacation destinations\, kites had become firmly established as recreational objects. \nIt’s hard to imagine a more natural pairing. \nWuskenau Is the Town Beach Beside Misquamicut State Beach\nVisitors who haven’t heard the name Wuskenau Town Beach may still know exactly where it is. \nThe Westerly-owned beach sits at 311 Atlantic Avenue\, immediately beside Misquamicut State Beach. \nIt’s also sometimes called New Town Beach locally. \nThe location provides direct access to the broad sandy shoreline that has made Misquamicut one of Rhode Island’s best-known beach communities. \nWuskenau is a simpler facility than the larger state beach next door\, but that’s not much of a drawback for a kite festival. \nThe attraction Saturday is overhead. \nMisquamicut Has Been Reinventing the Beach Season\nThe festival also fits a larger effort by the Misquamicut Business Association to make the beach community more than a July-and-August destination. \nThe association organizes events throughout the year\, including the Misquamicut Springfest\, FallFest\, Drive-In Movies and other community programming. \nThe Kite Festival arrives at an interesting point on the calendar. \nBy September 12\, the peak summer vacation season is winding down. Schools are back in session. The crowds of midsummer have begun to thin. \nBut southeastern Connecticut and southwestern Rhode Island still have weeks of potentially beautiful coastal weather ahead. \nThe ocean doesn’t disappear after Labor Day. \nNeither does the beach. \nA free Saturday kite festival gives families a reason to come back. \nA Good Kite Can Be Almost Anything\nFor people thinking about entering the Best in Show competition\, kite design has moved far beyond the familiar diamond. \nThere are delta kites. \nBox kites. \nParafoils. \nCellular kites. \nDragons. \nAnimals. \nGeometric designs. \nAnd enormous inflatable creations that can turn a kite festival into something resembling an airborne parade. \nSome designs are engineered primarily for performance. \nOthers are essentially flying artwork. \nThe festival hasn’t announced restrictive design categories for its Best in Show competition\, leaving plenty of room for imagination. \nThat makes the contest accessible to kids as well as serious hobbyists. \nA technically sophisticated kite might be impressive. \nSo might something completely ridiculous that actually flies. \nYou Don’t Need a Kite to Enjoy This One\nThat’s another advantage of the Misquamicut Kite Festival. \nSpectators get essentially the same view as participants. \nThe entire sky becomes the display. \nFamilies 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. \nAdmission is free. \nThe festival runs for four hours. \nAnd there’s no obligation to participate. \nBut considering kids kite kits will be available at the beach\, staying strictly on the spectator side may prove difficult for families with younger children. \nDetails\nEvent: 4th Annual Misquamicut Kite Festival\nDate: Saturday\, September 12\, 2026\nTime: 11 a.m.–3 p.m.\nLocation: Wuskenau Town Beach\nAddress: 311 Atlantic Avenue\, Westerly\, RI 02891\nAdmission: Free\nAges: All ages\nParticipation: Open to everyone\nKites: Bring your own kite; kids kite kits will also be available on site\nCompetition: Best in Show Kite\nPrize: $100\nPresented By: Misquamicut Business Association\nSetting: Outdoors on the beach\nWeather: Kite flying and outdoor activities are weather-dependent\nParking: Wuskenau Town Beach has town-operated parking lots along Atlantic Avenue; check current Town of Westerly parking requirements before arriving\nEvent Contact: Misquamicut Business Association\, 401-322-1026 \n  \nFeatured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people\, location\, or activities shown.
URL:https://thectbeacon.com/event/4th-annual-misquamicut-kite-festival/
LOCATION:Wuskenau Town Beach\, 311 Atlantic Ave\, Westerly\, RI\, 02891\, United States
CATEGORIES:Wuskenau Town Beach
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://thectbeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/4th-Annual-Misquamicut-Kite-Festival.jpg
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