Please come out and cheer for the Squadron in the Rokkaku Challenge. I think we’ll give you a lot to cheer for — we usually put on an energetic and noisy show, and we’ve been winning a lot. To brag a little, last year, our various teams won at Smithsonian and Wildwood and took second in the AKA Nationals, and I won the individual combat in the Nationals. So I can promise that your enthusiasm will be well placed and rewarded with action.

I’ll continue posting info and follow-ups here, so check back in. You can also find more details about the festival’s schedule, children’s events, and rules at the Smithsonian Kite Festival website.

Read ongoing festival news at our twitter feed, MidnightSquad, which is also shown on the right side of our home page.

This year’s theme is Green Environmentalism. As usual, there will be lots of fun kiting and kid-centric events for all of you spawners.

Our Rokkaku Fighting Team will be on the field seeking a fourth (? I’ve lost count) 1st place trophy. The combat is at 3pm!

Here’s the Smithsonian’s description of their theme:

This year’s festival is going GREEN.

The Kite Festival (Saturday, March 28, 10 am to 4 pm) will explore how being ‘green’ and utilizing natural resources can be a fun, creative, and fulfilling experience. What better way to celebrate our environment than by coloring the sky with kites fashioned from renewable resources and powered by the wind?

This year, honor planet Earth by creating both environmentally and thematically ‘green’ kites that positively reflect the beautiful resources we have available. In lieu of constructing with ‘green’ materials, you could create a traditional kite with a ‘green’ theme…The sky is literally the limit-so be creative and push the limits, have fun, and go ‘green’! Whatever you end up creating, please make sure that all kites fly according to AKA specifications.

(Ummm, wouldn’t “fly according to AKA specifications” just mean not flying into power lines and not crashing into crowds?)

Read more at the Smithsonian Kite Festival website, including a list of activity tents and a schedule that starts at 10 am.

For Kite-Flying Children

because there are so many of you nowadays. There’s a poetry contest for 1st-8th graders.

I didn’t see anything about a children’s kite-making workshop, but there’s usually one at the Smithsonian — the week before, I believe. Keep an eye open for it.