Bay Explorer
Berkeley Kite Festival
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Location: Cesar Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina, Berkeley, Ca
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Pricing: Free to get in- parking & attractions for kids $$
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Hours: Last weekend of July
Description: The Berkeley Kite Festival is a one of a kind uniquely Berkeley affair. Lasting two days the last weekend of July every year this event has gotten really popular over the years since I was young. As the name suggests your children will be thrilled by all the kites everywhere- big kites, little kites, colorful kites, animal kites, twirling, whirling, crazy kites, kites with tails, and kites with sails. So many kites and plenty of chances for you and your child to fly one as well, whether you bring your own from home, get to hold a professionals, or try your hand at the small free kites. There is lots more to do there as well for children including a petting zoo, pony rides, ball rolling, bungee jumps, face painting, and inflatable everything. There are inflatable slides, bounce houses, and obstacle courses galore! But this is where it starts to get expensive. My advise is talk with your child about what their two top things they wanna choose to do are. We spent a lot of money very quickly and my daughter was still asking for more attractions. There are many food booths- my favorite this year was Ghanain food from Sankofa which had a great vegan plate! Also there are the usual dinky toy stands, crafts, and ice cream booths. But it is free and to get the most outof that bring a big blanket and park your patootie on the grass for some hours of oogling at the kites flying high and doing tricks.
Highlights: There are so many kids activities, so evenif they loose interest in the actual kites themselves which seems unlikely, there are still so many more things to keep them occupied. My daughter had so much fun bouncing through the inflatable obstacle courses!
Tips: If you can bike- parking is nuts and gets closed up by noon at the most. If you are driving GET THERE EARLY!!!!- It starts at 10, we got there at 10:15 and parking was filling up fast!