Milwaukee’s International Kite Festival

With “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” playing from a sound system that filled Veteran’s Park, I watched happy children set kites of all shapes and sizes soaring on Sunday. Maggiano’s Frank Mots International Kite Festival, presented by Prairie Farms (now that’s a name), took over Milwaukee’s lakefront on Saturday and Sunday. The festival didn’t have the rumble of last week’s Harley’s, nor the beer-soaked sounds of the many live music acts at the Henry Maier Festival Grounds, but it did offer free, family-friendly entertainment.

The event has a little something for everyone, with opportunities for families or individuals to fly kites to professional teams flying large kites (they were just getting off the ground as I left). Not to be outdone by any other Milwaukee festival, the festival featured food and art vendors, some even hawking paintings of kites on the lakefront.

As our photos show, the lakefront is the perfect location for the festival with a large, wide open space that features Lake Michigan in one direction and the backdrop of downtown Milwaukee in the other.

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