Thousands gather at Zilker Park for ABC Kite Fest 2022
Mario Treviño claimed he felt like a kid once more Sunday as he held on to the line of his kite.
Treviño experienced his a few grandkids’ entire notice as they watched their grandpa hold their kite, which was in the shape of a area shuttle, up in the air for several minutes.
“This is the initial time I do this in years,” Treviño explained. “The very last time I did this I was a teen in Laredo, Texas. Now I am displaying my grandkids how to do this.”
Treviño and his spouse and children ended up between countless numbers of persons — and their kites of various designs and dimensions — who flocked to Zilker Park for the 93rd annual ABC Kite Fest.
The beloved Austin competition every year welcomed more than 40,000 people to watch thousands of vibrant kites in excess of the park for a kite showcase and contest, a children’s concert, local foodstuff and other amusement. When the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020, the event was canceled. Previous year, party organizers urged residents to fly kites, while preserving social distance, at their Austin neighborhood parks to avert the spread of the virus.
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The occasion Sunday featured contests for the steadiest kite and the greatest kite pilot and a prize for the most uncommon kite, amid other groups. Proceeds from the competition benefit Communities in Educational institutions of Central Texas and the Moss Pieratt Foundation, which aims to raise funds and recognition to obtain a induce or remedy for unexpected, unexplained fatalities in young children more than the age of 12 months.
Whilst Treviño is a longtime Austin resident, Sunday was his first time at the competition, which was started in 1929 and is the longest-running festival of its form.
“My grandkids said, ‘Abuelo, we’re likely to go to this, and you might be coming with us,’” he mentioned. “I’m glad we came out. Now I get to educate my grandkids a little something new.”
Other families whose to start with time experiencing the Kite Fest was also Sunday said they are wanting ahead to earning the event a family custom.
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Johnnie Harris moved to Austin from Houston in the early 1960s, and Sunday was her initially time attending the Kite Fest.
She was there with daughter Shayla Harris, grandson Malcolm Burditt and fantastic-grandson Malcolm, 4.
“We are making it a full loved ones affair now,” Harris reported. “My excellent-grandson enjoys it. This is just so amazing.”
Ignacio Ureña taught his daughter Miren Ureña to fly a kite — something he did typically in his hometown of Pachuca, Hidalgo, prior to relocating to Austin a lot more than a ten years back.
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On Sunday they ended up traveling a box kite.
“We have had this kite for 20 yrs,” Ignacio Ureña stated in Spanish. “I acquired it for my daughter through a vacation in Corpus Christi, and we never ever obtained to fly it until now.”
Daily life bought in the way of traveling the kite as a loved ones, he mentioned.
“I didn’t recognize how stunning this park was. We had been seeking to arrive out right here for so very long,” Miren Ureña mentioned in Spanish. “This is just so amazing seeing all of the kites below we’re glad we obtained to do this.”
Austin American-Statesman reporter Natalia Contreras can be achieved at 512-626-4036 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter and Fb, @NataliaECG.
