88	Days until Kite Party 7

Kite Party 6

IKE at Kite Party 6

Kite Party 6 was held on Huntington Beach in Southern California on February 23-24, 2008. It was hosted by Dave Shenkman of the Kite Connection.

Kite Party is not a festival, it is an informal gathering of avid kite fliers from around the country, and the world.

Kite Party featured demos from the quad kite flying team, iQuad.

It was also well attended by our own IKE, who sent 15 members west for the 2008 party.

In the news

The Huntington Beach Kite Party has the wind at its back By -- Brenda Rees February 21, 2008
The organizers are adamant about one thing: Don't call this weekend's gathering of kite enthusiasts in Huntington Beach a "festival." "We don't use the 'f' word," says Dave Shenkman, sponsor for the sixth annual event. "It's a party. We don't have a schedule of events; it's just kite fliers showing off their stuff and having a good time." Taking place on a roped off area north of the Huntington Beach Pier, this airborne convention is by invitation only, but beachgoers will have a front-row seat. And if the aerial acrobatics should prove inspirational, there's plenty of open beach for novice fliers to practice. At an undetermined time, the public will even get an opportunity to join the party as part of a fundraiser: $20 gets you a kite and a chance to rub elbows with the pros. Shenkman -- who has owned the Kite Connection shop on Huntington Beach for 25 years -- says the event began years ago with a simple invitation on a popular online kite forum. "I wanted to throw a private party for some loyal customers," he explains. Well, word got out about the gathering and more than 50 fliers from all over the world showed up on the California shoreline for some altitudinal frolicking. This year, the party expects to draw about 100 local and international kite fliers who will take their dragons, quad lines and box kites to the limit.