LONG BEACH — Bouts of fog and stiff winds couldn’t ground the fun for the weeklong 45th annual Washington State International Kite Festival, held Aug. 17-23 last week.

Master kite fliers Mike Sterling and Ray Miller were among the talented professionals that dazzled crowds with musically choreographed kite flying demonstrations on Saturday, Aug. 22, the peak attendance day of the popular festival that drew thousands despite less-than-ideal weather conditions.

Low winds, high spirits

The wind was especially low on Thursday, Aug. 20, the fourth day of the festival, but spirits remained high.

“The wind wasn’t very good today,” said Eddie Haynes. “Today a lot of stuff didn’t fly very well and spent more time on the ground than in the air.”

Haynes was there with his wife and daughter in front of the Bolstad beach approach in Long Beach along with thousands of others to experience the iconic week-long festival. The festival features vendor booths, historical kites, battles kites, kids’ programs, nighttime and indoor flying events and more.

The event is hosted by the World Kite Museum in Long Beach. Festivities culminated on Sunday with a ceremony honoring kite fliers who have passed away during the year. Professional fliers and families will send their names aloft on specialized kites — an homage and a signal to begin planning for next year’s fest.

The Haynes family, from Roy, known as Team Tethered Imagination, specializes in big show kites. They have become festival-famous for a stacked kite, which is two or more kites flown together on a single set of flying lines — theirs, a nod to the Seattle Kraken. On Thursday, more big kites, such as their 65-foot gray whale kites, were grounded due to lack of wind.

But when the wind dies down it’s time to talk about kites. “We love talking to people all day long about kites,” said Eddie Haynes. “Allll day long,” his daughter, Lena Flanagan, said, laughing.

Eddie Haynes, who is 55, is tethered to the festival through decades of memories.

“I have T-shirts from the kite fest dated back to 1998,” he said. ”One of my earliest memories as a kid was wanting to fly a kite and my mom went to this luncheon when I was 4 or 5 years old and I begged her to buy me a kite after and we went and flew it together in the park. Since then, I don’t know if you’d call it a hobby. … It’s more like an obsession.”

A family affair

His wife, Tigger Haynes, a teacher of 25 years, works in elementary education at Roosevelt Elementary School in Tacoma. When she and Eddie married 17 years ago, she adopted her husband’s passion for kites. “I got into kites because of him,” Tigger Haynes said. “We really got into the big kites after we got married.”

Thursday was “sea creature day” and a competition was held. Tigger Haynes placed third for her tropical fish ground display. The category features wind-powered, inflatable shapes that are staked or tethered directly into the ground instead of flown into the air.

The family said they usually come for a week but this year due to a scheduling conflict they had just arrived Thursday morning. They quickly set up their colorful display around their pick up, lawn chairs and other accoutrement to make their stay comfortable.

Daughter Lena Flanagan is a music teacher at Tacoma Elementary, less than a mile away from the school where her mom teaches. She was there on the beach to assist her parents with taking down their elaborate display at the end of the day.

“She’s a big help as we get older,” said Eddie Haynes.

Flanagan seemed happy to join her parents in what has become a yearly pilgrimage from the city to the beach to share a collective enthusiasm for kites with everyone who strolls by their colorful beach display, whether up high or on the ground.

David Bright wins poster contest

Following a five year break, the World Kite Museum and Washington State International Kite Festival brought back the beloved poster contest this year.

There were 13 participating local artists, according to the museum, including: Sherry Bosch, David Bright, Amy Capdeboseg, Stephanie Day, Amiee Herman, Kavita Jaswal, Helen Marston, Sherry Meuchel, Penny Russell, Anushua Sinha, Brian Sullivan, Sue Svendsen and Madelyn Thorsen. Over the course of the exhibit, there were more than 1,000 individual votes cast.

The top 3 went to the committee and from there a winner was chosen: David Bright’s “Kite Mischief.” The winning piece was inspired by the artist’s grandchildren.