Wind and Kite Festival: Let’s All Fly Kites in Villa de Leyva!

• Place: Villa de Leyva, Boyacá
• Region: Andes
• Date: a weekend in August
• Duration: 2 days

In Colombia, August is kite month on account of the strong winds. The sky in Villa de Leyva fills up with dots of thousands of colors that move in all directions.

Every year, during a weekend in August, wind and happiness arrive. The Wind and Kite Festival takes place on the beautiful colonial stage of Villa de Leyva. Participants not only have fun; they can also watch professional kite-flyers perform amazing demonstrations while competing in several categories.

Every year for one weekend in August, happiness blows in with the windy season.

The History of Kites

Kites have accompanied mankind for over 25 centuries.

History tells that kites were born in China, where they were used in all sorts of activities: religious, meta-physical, artistic, military, and scientific.

Origins of the Festival

The first festival took place on August 7, 1975 and, ever since, it has been celebrated annually.

History tells us that models of American and European kites arrived in Colombia in 1980: deltas, which need no tail or wind; acrobatic, or stunt, kites with two or four strings; and three-dimensional, geometric.

After that, international tourists began arriving in Villa de Leyva.

Festival Competitions

The festival lasts two days. Saturday is called the “light day”, with contests in the following categories:

• artisan kites,
• night flying,
• art kites,
• show kites,
• children’s sports kites,
• vertical flight, etc.

The town plaza fills up completely on Sunday because it is the “heavy day”, with the most awaited competitions:

• individual flight,
• distance flight,
• gigantic kites,
• team flights.

The festival is a great get-together of amateurs, kite makes, experts, and kite-lovers. All enjoy the excitement of the game and become children for a short while.

For many people, kites are almost a religion and “seeing them glide the skies is total bliss. /El Tiempo, Villa de Leyva (Boyacá) celebrated its thirty-first Festival de las Cometas this weekend/