I would like to draw everyone's attention to KiteFest 2011.
The event takes place over the Memorial Day weekend in Homer. That's a long way for kiters in Southeast to travel but if you are a kiter in the Anchorage or Kenai area I highly recommend making the pilgrimage.
For kiters in Haines area, we'll be having our own fun on the beach that weekend. We might even be joined by the Canadian Kite Yukon contingent!
I pulled the following from the kitesurfalaska blog....
Hey KiteFest Fans,
We have started to plan for this year’s KiteFest and would like to keep you all abreast of what we are thinking; and also, to solicit ideas.
LOCATION: This year we will once again be holding the event at Mariner Park in Homer, Alaska.
DATE: May 27-29, 2011.
PARTIES: KiteFest is always fun, but we always want to make it funner! However, since we spend a great deal of our time in a public camping area, we need to be clever about how we proceed so we can continue to use that space (the city graciously lets us use it every year). In years past, it has seemed to work out just being at the campground with some food, beer and a big ass fire. But, I would like to grow the conversation about our party options to include an off site, dedicated party place such as a bar, club or eatery kind of place. Any thoughts!
FUNDRAISERS: As I’m sure you all are aware, KiteFest ALASKA is run entirely by volunteers and is operated like a not for profit. No one makes any money here. But, events are expensive and expenses spring up in all kinds of unexpected places. So, we are always trying to make raising money fun, painless and even beneficial for participants. Last year we abandoned the previous year’s silent auction model and went for the all out live auction and raffle. It seemed like everyone was really excited about that and most folks went home with some free or cheap gear and some of you went home with some sick prizes or auction wins. I would like to hear what you all thought about that and how we could improve it. Did you prefer the raffle or the live auction or neither? What other fund raisers would you suggest?
Last year we also printed 50 t shirts. This was an experiment and went very well. We plan to do another 50 shirts this year and would like to know if you all have any thoughts about this. Would you want to get another shirt this year even if you got one last year?
SPONSORS: Let’s face it, without sponsors there would just be a few dudes on the beach with grins and kites. Not bad, but without sponsors we wouldn’t have demo gear all over the beach and tons of free, auction and raffle gear to get into your hands cheap or free. We hope to have many of our sponsors from last year but also some new ones. F–One Kiteboarding has been with us from day one and is going to be with us again. Their new Bandit IV is out and unreal. We will have one or two of those for you to play with! HQ kites is also on board and psyched for this year’s event. They have their new Montana 6 out which is supposed to be killer. A new sponsor we wish to warmly welcome is Mystic Kiteboarding. Evan is excited to be a part of the scene in Alaska and we def could use some of their high end suits. I will keep you all updated on sponsors as they sign on.
Kiters in Haines have been using the Kite Alerts for several years now with great success. Add your name to your region and get notified when your buddies are going kiting!
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Here is a little snippet from the Homer Tribune
HOMER TRIBUNE/Randi Somers - The kite fest, beach romps and camping out are a few of the ways people celebrated Memorial Day weekend in Homer.
The fourth year for the 2011 Alaska Kite Surfing Festival at Mariner Park this weekend brought 80-100 Alaska “riders” together to talk about gear, compare notes and perform magnificent stunts in the waves.
“When we started kiting here, we didn’t have any way to get instruction or to understand the different gear for sale on the national market,” explained one event’s organizers, George Overpeck. “Every time we bought a new board or a new kite or a control system, we were buying it blind, just going off marketing information. That can be expensive,” he said. “We want to help others avoid the problems. With information it gets cheaper.”
Now, for the festival, sponsors offer gear they want tried by riders. Participants also learn from other’s gear.
Friday and Monday brought out optimal conditions for wind, Overpeck said. “We had an amazing run of luck with the weather. We ride the day breeze here – the southwest breeze of early summer is very predictable and it’s a smooth wind. But it’s been in the opposite direction for almost a month – and this time it turned and we got the day breeze for four days in a row. It was perfect timing,” he said.