If anyone has ever told you to go fly a kite, we have got the place for you.

Brookings, Ore., is home to a very colorful event -- the 16th Annual Southern Oregon Kite Festival, a free event that will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the Port of Brookings-Harbor.

It is the largest invitational Kite Festival in the United States and it draws many of the worlds best kite flyers.

Event organizer Emily Grimes says, “This is going to be one of the best festivals ever.”

She ought to know as she has put in endless hours of work in preparation for the festival. Just follow the signs once you get to Brookings. Parking is available and shuttles run to the kite flying fields every 15 minutes, beginning at 8:30 a.m. daily.

Friday will feature a kite building workshop taught by professional kite flyers Ronda Brewer and Lindsey Johnson. The Rokkatu Kite Building Workshop will be an informative and creative experience. Some builders will fly their new creations over the weekend. Kite building classes for children will be held the next day, Saturday at 10 a.m.

Windchasers, a group of kite builders, kite flyers and kite lovers will be teaching and they enjoy passing along their passion for the sport. Some say that it is not really a sport, but flyers that can fly three intricate and complex kites at the same time might change some minds.

If there were two words selected to describe the weekend it would be colorful and exciting. Colors that dot the clear blue sky at a kite festival are as numerous as the stars are at night. Primary colors of red, yellow and green dominate the spectrum but purples, oranges, blacks, blues and exotic combinations create an ever moving, ever changing array of artwork across the sky. Shapes and sizes vary and many have designs or faces on them.

The excitement is created by these lovers of art on the end of a string that ply their hobby on some of the most beautiful days of the year. The shapes, sizes and dimensions of these creative kites are challenging and the variety of wind speed must always be factored in. Some kites are too large for low wind days and many are created to be used in brisk wind. Stiff winds allow these colorful kites to rise, dip, soar and more as their movements are controlled from the ground below. Brookings has been a good wind area for the last 15 years and the locals hope that the trend continues for 2008.

This festival attracts many of the best kite flyers in, not only the United States, but from around the world. There will be a minimum of 25 of the best kite pilots in the world, and they will dazzle the earth bound crowd with acrobatics and competitive stunts. Five of the best kite builders in the United States will be competing with their latest creations. Scheduled to perform is Lam Hoac, a Canadian that his peers call the best kite pilot in the world. The two best quad-line flyers will perform as will the two best single line flyers. There will be a team flying their “Hyper Stack” kites and in a special appearance one of only three people in the world that can pilot three dual line kites at the same time. Many more teams and creative singles will participate during the two day event. The flying begins each morning at 10 a.m. and officially stops at 4 p.m. but many say that kite flying against a setting sun is quite an experience. An exciting addition will take place as some of the pilots will have their shows choreographed to music on the ground.

While it's true that kites and color rule the sky there will be a lot more for attendees to do on the ground. There will be a Harbor Volunteer Fireman's Breakfast on Sunday at 7 a.m. and a kite auction banquet on Saturday at 6 p.m. There will be specialty foods available for purchase and beverages also. Arts and Crafts will be on display throughout the weekend.

As the event winds down Sunday afternoon first time attendees may decide that their family too should go fly a kite.

For further info contact Emily Grimes at 541-412-8171.