This year, I was blessed that I was in Eugene for their annual Asian Kite Festival. Luckily, I have connections with people involved with the Asian Council in Eugene, so I am informed when these unique events pop-up. First of all, I have to say how neat it is to see a predominantly caucasian city, such as Eugene, have cultural events. Not only does the diversity of the city expose itself, it is fun to see people of different races gathering together at a venue and appreciating different cultures.
This event was hosted in the cafeteria of the North Eugene High School. When you walk in there is a little table that is selling ($3) blank pre-made kites. Then there are tables set up with a variety of coloring utensils to design your kite. While people designed their kites, different acts performed such as Eugene Taiko, Iron Mango (ukulele group), and even an Italian man playing the
shakohachi (Japanese flute). It was very interesting! While some people were watching the entertainment and others were designing their kites, the majority of people at the event were outside on the large field watching their custom designed kites flutter on the spring breeze.
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Eugene Taiko
They make their own drums out of wine barrels! |
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| Iron Mango and Dancers! |
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| Let's go fly a kite! |
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| Up, up, and away! |
It was a very nice and relaxing experience to see kids out flying kites instead of just playing with video games. This type of event definitely for everyone because I can see how some could get bored. Really good for small children (because they have an awards ceremony for kites) and the elderly who just want to enjoy people watching.
