Family Day Kite Festival Flies into the Presidio on Aug. 17

Presidio of San Francisco (August 12, 2013) — The Family Day Kite Festival, a San Francisco tradition for 35 years, will fly into the Presidio on Saturday, August 17. The event takes place on the Presidio’s Main Post Lawn (Main Parade Ground) adjacent to TheWalt Disney Family Museum, from 11 am-5 pm.

“The Presidio Main Post boasts a panoramic sky with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background,” said festival founder, Ron Young. “We think it’s a beautiful site for the Family Day Kite Festival!”

There will be outdoor fun for families, adults and kids of all ages, including kite-flying demonstrations and contests (for both amateurs and professionals), ground displays, stunt kite fliers, champion aerobatics and stunning kites — tiny to gigantic.

Off the Grid will provide a wide range of local foods and beverages. Free candy will rain from the sky during the festival’s “Kitelift”.

Festival partner the Walt Disney Family Museum will host a free Make-a-Kite Pavilion for children. A corresponding exhibition, Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong, will open the day of the kite festival.Wong is a renowned artist and kite maker whose work is featured in the Disney classic Bambi. The exhibition showcases more than 150 paintings, sculptures, kites, painted scarves, and artwork, and runs from August 17 through February 3, 2014 at the Walt Disney Family Museum.

In 1978, the Family Day Kite Festival inspired beloved Mayor George Moscone to declare the very first “Family Day” in San Francisco and America. The festival celebrates the technical and artistic ways families can harness the wind with kites.

Transportation: Parking at the Main Post is free. Alternative transportation includes the free PresidiGo shuttle, which provides quick and easy transportation around the park. SF Muni provides route service near the Presidio via lines 1, 28, 28L, 29, 41, 43, and 45.

The Presidio Trust was established by the United States Congress in 1996 to administer the Presidio, a former army base and new urban national park site located at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. Today, over 2,700 people live in the park’s former military housing and more than 200 organizations have located in Presidio buildings, attracted by the Presidio’s beauty and historic significance. Under the Trust’s management, the Presidio has been transformed into a stunning visitor destination with an extensive system of trails and scenic overlooks; rehabilitated historic buildings; programs that teach about the Presidio’s military history and natural resources, and tenants and residents who help to sustain the park.