Kite festival lifts spirits of crowd at Wheaton park

Dan Brinnehl said that when he first picked up a kite in 1994, he was surprised by the strength of the wind.

“It was intense — there was so much power,” he said. “And I was hooked by that.”

Brinnehl, an Oak Lawn resident, is a member of the Chicago Fire Kite Team, one of the key attractions at the third annual Go Fly A Kite festival in Wheaton Sunday.

Kite team members used dual- and quad-line kites to perform a striking array of aerial acrobatic moves to music. The fliers’ control was all the more impressive because their demonstrations took place on a particularly windy Sunday afternoon.

“These kites are pretty amazing,” Brinnehl said. “It took me a couple months of constant flying to be able to handle them. Even people who think they’re not interested in kite-flying tell us they were amazed by what we do.”

In addition to the kite team’s performance, the Go Fly a Kite festival included children’s kite games and a kite-making session. More than a dozen vendors from the area set up shop at the event, as well.

The festival, organized by the Wheaton Park District, was held at Graf Park.

“One of the goals is get people out to our parks,” said park district spokeswoman Cathy Hetrick. “I think we’ve succeeded today.”

The sky above Graf Park was filled with dozens of colorful kites even before the official grand launch at 12:30 p.m. Resident Charlie Henderson was there with his two sons, Francis and Edward.

“It’s pretty cold out here today, but it looks great with the sun out, and this seemed like a nice way to enter spring, you know?” he said. “I loved kites when I was younger, but my kids aren’t as interested. Maybe this will change their minds.”