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Let’s go fly a kite

Perfect day for Lewes chamber’s 54th Great Delaware Kite Festival
Derek Biggs of Camden works to get his large, colorful kite off the ground. RON MACARTHUR PHOTOS
Ron MacArthur
April 16, 2022

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Great Delaware Kite Festival is April 15
Saturday, April 9, 2022

Weather was ideal April 15, for the 54th annual Great Delaware Kite Festival at Cape Henlopen State Park. The event is sponsored by the Lewes Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, and the Delaware Division of Parks and Recreation.

The annual event, one of the oldest kite festivals in the country, got its start in 1969 when the Maharajah of Bharatpur, India, challenged the governor of Delaware to a kite-flying contest. The governor was away on business, so Lt. Gov. Eugene Bookhammer accepted the challenge.

The winner of the contest was the flyer who could use his kite string to cut the opponent’s string. Bookhammer won the first two years of competition, as other people started flying their own kites and the festival as we know it began. The event takes place each year on Good Friday at Cape Henlopen State Park.

Zoe Ryan of Lewes runs fast to get her kite off the ground.
Sam Coteman, left, helps his son Harper fly an unusual black butterfly kite.
Veteran kite flyer Bill Goodwin of Ocean View displays his favorite colors with his red, white and blue kite.
Children chase down flying bubbles, thanks to Felix the Bubble Maker.
Youngsters make a quick dash to find as many Easter eggs as they can in just a few seconds.
They’re off! With hundreds of children taking part, the festival’s egg hunt was over in a few seconds.
Children gather as many Easter eggs as they can in a mad dash on the park’s parade grounds.
Novalee Coleman of Bel Air, Md., dresses as a ladybug as she prepares to fly her kite in the children’s competition.
Bruce Lester, 4, one of the day’s youngest competitors, gets his Batman kite aloft during competition.
Ravi Nanavah of Lewes looks happy to fly his neon-green kite.
Annabel Shelhorse of Frederick, Md., uses every method possible to get her kite into the air.
Jeremy Bell of Lewes wins the prize for the largest bubble produced during the festival.
Foster Schucker of Wilmington said this photo proves he got his large jellyfish kite into the air.
Copy Cat’s Catherine Flaherty works her magic on face paint for Vivian Dryden of Milton.
Rich Cairncross of Newtown Square, Pa. prepares to enter his unique kite in the highest-flyer competition, which he won.
Drew Cline and his daughter Charlotte use a fishing pole to fly their kite in the highest-flyer contest.
John Hintz may look a lot like a man who we see every December. That’s because he portrays Santa Claus, and he also loves kites.
Patrick Callahan of Wilmington has the largest kite by far. There wasn’t enough wind for him to get the kite aloft, although he flew many others throughout the day.
Raven Leister, 1 1/2, of Camden, wins a medal as the youngest kite flyer.
It’s a mob scene during the annual egg toss.
Colorful kites fill the sky above Cape Henlopen Park throughout the annual Great Delaware Kite Festival.
Veteran kite flyer Rich Cairncross of Newtown Square, Pa. made this one-of-a-kind kite of the Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse.
Felix the Balloon Man watches as children delight and play in bubbles from his handmade bubble maker.
It’s all how you work the string as Dennis Barrett of Milford demonstrates.
Arnold Simon of Pikesville, Md., competes in the highest-flyer contest every year. He took second-place honors at this year’s festival.
Volunteers play a key role in the success of the annual kite festival. Shown in back are Jim Smith, Lewes Chamber of Commerce past president and volunteer, and Ted Becker, Lewes mayor. In front are Rajendrakamar Patel, winner of the Individual Precision Kite Flying competition receiving the medallion award sponsored by M&T Bank, and Tiffany Guido, M&T Bank assistant vice president, Lewes branch manager. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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