Zilker Park is just about the most lovely space in our city, but being a park it’s not that friendly to parking. But that’s the nature of a park. Here are some options for parking and transportation…

Barton Springs Road will be closed from 9 am to 6 pm during the Kite Festival.

There is free Parking and Shuttles at the State Garage “E” which is at 1604 Colorado St (1 block off of Lavaca). Click here for a map to this location. Shuttles will start picking up folks at 10am and will be running to the park until 3:15 pm. Shuttles will continue to bring folks back to the garage from the park until 5:30 pm.  Everyone is welcome on the shuttles.  No large coolers please, they are too big to fit (the shuttles are school buses). Well mannered dogs on leashes can go on the shuttles. ***Shuttle drivers have the authority to refuse to allow any person, object or animal on the bus.***  The reason we stop taking folks to the park after 3pm is by the time the bus makes it to the park there would not be time to do much except get back on the bus. (The hours of the event are 10am to 5pm.) We also have shuttles equipped for special needs stopping at the 1604 Colorado location.

There is some limited parking in Zilker Park on the Polo fields. You can get to it from the Mopac service road. It’s free but there’s not that much and fills up quickly, so come early for parking in the park.

The Palmer Events Center (just down Barton Springs Road east of Lamar) says they will have parking available for the Kite Festival and the fee for all day is $7.

There is Special Needs parking in the park. Be sure you have the special needs hanger card (or other special needs parking designation)  in your car and ask the police at the road closure to the park to let you in for Special Needs Parking – the Mopac side of the park would be the best entrance to use. Special needs parking is on the south side of Barton Springs Road just across from the Kite Festival. Drive in like you are going to the pool, the lots are just beyond the play ground.

Bicycle parking – we will have bicycle racks next to the Special Needs parking on the south Side of Barton Springs Road across from the Great Lawn. We hope many of ya’ll can bike in to enjoy the Kite Festival.

We’ll see ya’ll on March 7!

Hi Folks, good news -  the Kite Festival is back on it’s original location now known as the ‘Great Lawn’. Just an fyi, 1936 maps name title this area of Zilker Park as the “Kite Flying Fields”. And on any given nice day there will probably be someone out there flying a kite. So dust off the kites and get them ready for Sunday March 7th. Here are some quick facts:

- Event is 10am to 5pm

- Free Shuttles (1oam to 3pm) and free parking at State Garage E at 1604 Colorado St

- Kite Contest starts at 1pm (registration starts at 11am, sorry no pre-registration)

- Yes you can bring a picnic but do check out the vendors. We’ve worked hard to present great food. A percentage of the food sales benefits non-profits who are engaged in breaking the cycle of child abuse. Buy a hot dog, help a child. It’s that simple. There’s a huge variety of food for all tastes and the folks making it are experts.

Time for an afternoon of good fun in the park. Hope to see ya’ll there.

Hello and sorry for the long gap in posts. Thank you to everyone that participated in the 2009 Kite Festival. Many thanks to the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department for their efforts to make sure the Kite Festival took place. Due to construction on the fields the event had to be moved to another location. Every location has it’s unique advantages and disadvantages and how everyone rocked and rolled with the new spot was simply awesome. The lines were long and we are working on solving that problem. Any feedback is welcome. By the way, ya’ll posted some wonderful photos on flickr.com. Search for Austin Kite Festival and check them out. There were kites everywhere you looked on Kite Day. Ya’ll rock.

A great big THANK YOU! to BuildaSign.com. At the last minute they donated some badly needed signage and we are very grateful. Their biz is the berries and you can find them here.

Put Sunday March 7, 2010 on your calendar. On that day we challenge the winds again.

In answer to bringing kids wagons on the bus -

The bus company says they will not allow anything on the bus that is large enough to block the aisle.

What about special needs parking and rides?

There will be special needs parking and shuttles available at both the downtown state garage and the Toney Burger center. Also, staff will be on the special needs bus to assist.

The field is all torn up!! How are we going to fly kites this year??

The Kite Festival is in Zilker Park this year, but will be about 200 feet southwest of the regular kite flying field across from the Garden Center. This is where the moon tower is – it’s the big Christmas tree during the holidays. This is the field were cars are parked normally for park events. That’s why we have to shuttle in.

Can I bring my dog?

Yes! Bring the pup on a leash. Lotsa canines regularly attend this event, some wearing their finest outfits for a stoll in the park. Well behaved dogs are allowed on the shuttles too.

Even though we are riding the bus, can we bring a picnic?

Yes! and…there are lots of great food vendors. They’ve been carefully selected to offer a variety of choices – all simply delicious! A percentage of vendor sales benefits local non-profits who are working to break the cycle of child abuse. We hope you will patronize our vendors and support this mission.

I don’t have a kite, can I get one there?

Yes! Kites will be for sale and we’ll have a free kite making tent sponsored by HEB.

Do you still need volunteers?

If you want to volunteer, check in with our volunteer tent. They’ll let you know if they need help. We appreciate your interest, keep us in mind for 2010. Every volunteer is appreciated, this event would not happen without them.

Other questions? Send an email to:  kites -at- zilkerkitefestival.com (replace the ‘at’ with the ‘at’ sign)

Time to go find some kite string. See ya’ll Sunday March 1.

Zilker Park is in an unusual situation right now. The field where we normally fly kites is under construction and fenced off. Not to worry, the kite festival will take place in Zilker Park. We’ll be on what is called the Polo Field, which is on Barton Springs Road just across from the Garden Center. The moon tower is on the edge of this field. Because of the construction, there is no room to park in Zilker. Barton Springs Road will be closed from 9am to 6pm on March 1.

HOWEVER – It will be easy to get to the Kite Festival by taking advantage of the FREE parking and shuttle rides from two locations:

downtown at State Garage E at 1604 Colorado Street (click here for a map)

south at the Toney Burger Center at 3200 Jones Road (click here for a map)

Picnic goods, strollers, kites, well behaved dogs on leashes are welcome on the shuttles. We also have special needs shuttles too. The only thing we ask you not to bring are those really, really, huge coolers. There isn’t enough room on the bus for those. Small and regular size coolers are fine.

So hop on the bus and come fly some kites. The Zilker Kite Festival is the oldest continually running Kite event in the USA. We are 80 years old and still flying – where else but Austin? You can say you came to “the one by the moon tower” remember that?

See you there on March 1!

As the Kite Festival gets closer we are reminded daily how many generations of Austin folks have participated in this spring event. Austin is a wonderful city to fly kites every spring for 81 years.

Speaking of participating, we are in need of volunteers. There are lots of fun activities and volunteer shifts are 2 to 3 hours long. Training is on the spot and all of the tasks are easy. Groups are welcome as well as individuals. If you would like more information on volunteering, click here.

Another thing we can use is Kite Contest Contestants! Come on ya’ll – it’s not that hard to make a kite and there’s a ton of fun in seeing if it really will fly. Making a kite a group effort can be very rewarding. There are some links on where you can find kite plans on our web site – here.  If you put ‘Kite Plans’ in your search engine – lots will come up of all skill levels.  Anyone remember when we made them out of the Sunday comics in the newspaper?

See ya’ll March 1 in Zilker Park.

Welcome! To the first blog for the Zilker Park Kite Festival. We’re getting ready for the 81st Kite Festival on March 1st 2009.

Some history…

If you look at old Austin maps of the Zilker Park area, the fields currently being used for soccer are labeled the ‘Kite Flying’ fields. Andrew Zilker, who donated the land in two steps, one in 1918 and one in 1932, made this 351 acre park possible. Andrew Zilker came to Austin in 1876 with 50 cents in his pocket – and became one of Austin’s earliest millionaires. It’s said that Zilker was a pilot and loved flying. It’s no wonder Kites are a part of the park named for him. Today kite fliers can be found at Zilker Park almost every good weather day and it’s the home of the longest continually running Kite Festival in the USA.

The Exchange Club created the Kite Tournament in 1929. It did not start at Zilker Park, instead the Kite Tournament was held at Lamar Park – the site of which is now uncertain and has disappeared in history. It is believed to have been close to Congress and 1st street, next to Ladybird Lake. The Kite Tournament moved to Zilker Park in 1936, the year the park was officially opened and the Exchange Club of Austin began a truly wonderful partnership with the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department in producing the annual Kite Contest.

Austin's first "Kite Tournament" in 1929 at Lamar Park. Photographer is unknown.

And some NEWS…..

In 2009, the ‘Kite Flying’ fields will be undergoing a refurbishment complete with new grass. Unfortunately this construction will run over the first weekend in March normally used for the Kite Festival. So we’re going to have a slight change in the event, we’re going to move the event just across the street to the Polo Fields. This is the area normally used for parking and is across from the Garden Center. The Moon Tower used for the Christmas tree is on one side of the field. We’ll be doing business as usual, just across the street from our regular home.

Folks in Austin love to fly kites and Kite Day is going to happen in 2009. So come on down to Zilker Park on March 1 and look for kites. We’ll be there!