Redondo Beach

Happy 50th, Festival of the Kite; the free Redondo Beach Pier party will soon soar

Talk about an uplifting tradition: Bring your own flyer or simply stop by to admire the colorful event.

Dori Arazi / EyeEm

What to Know

  • Festival of the Kite in Redondo Beach
  • Free; Sunday, March 10 from noon to 5 p.m. (Daylight Saving Time begins on March 10)
  • Music, prizes, and a Hot-Dog-on-a-Stick eating contest are on the breezy schedule; kites will be for sale on the pier, or you can arrive with a kite

A breeze, at least the sort of flittering, here-for-a-moment-then-gone breeze that is needed to give a classic triangle kite an easy lift-off, tends to be on the shorter side.

One moment, a light wind is blowing through, and then, just as quickly, it abates. That's why kite mavens have to seize the moment when a breeze rises for it could be over in an instant.

But something associated with the briefest breezes has stood the test of time, and then some. It's the Festival of the Kite, a treasured to-do that gains lift-off at Redondo Pier each March, and it returns on Sunday, March 10.

The free happening is sailing into its 50th year in 2024, but fans can still expect free admission, which is traditional, and several sunny sights.

Those include plenty of people out on the sand with their kites, as well as those observers who'd simply like to enjoy the surf-close sky show.

Live tunes, giveaways, and a showdown involving Hotdog on a Stick, that beachy icon, will also add flair to the fly-big, fly-free fun.

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If you can't find your kite — maybe you stowed it too well after the breezes of last spring settled down — you'll find kites for sale on the pier.

Before dreaming of those flitting breezes and bright nylon artworks, the artworks that are best viewed when they're in the air, consider this: March 10 is the start of Daylight Saving Time, when we "spring forward" an hour.

Remember that if you'd like to arrive promptly at noon when the festival begins.

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