While outdoor kites are powered by the wind, a flyer’s body movements are all it takes to guide an indoor kite through the air. These kites, lighter and often simpler than their outdoor counterparts, dance an intricate ballet, more akin to a figure-skating routine than a day at the beach.
This weekend, indoor kite flyers will compete at the Fourth Annual Camas Indoor Kite Festival.
Those unfamiliar with the sport often ask whether indoor kite flyers rely on the breeze from fans to fill their sails, but it’s all human-powered, said Camas resident Bud Hayes, a competitive flyer and co-organizer of the festival, along with Kite Shoppe owner Theresa Norelius of Vancouver.
Flying without wind is possible because indoor kites are so light. Most weigh about four ounces, whereas outdoor kites can be up to four times as heavy. This weight limitation doesn’t allow for many design frills, but an indoor kite in the hands of a masterful flyer is art, said Hayes, whose wife Linda Hayes is also a flyer.
Four competitions comprise this American Kite Association-sanctioned festival, each offering audience members a show and flyers the opportunity to vie for first-, second- and third-place honors as well as to earn points toward qualifying to compete at the national level. Past years’ festivals typically have drawn between 12 and 14 flyers competing in each of the four events, Bud Hayes said.
Indoor kite flyers compete one at a time, performing two- to four-minute choreographed ballets to music. They’re judged on artistry and technique. It’s common for flyers to switch kites mid-routine to show their versatility and skill, Bud Hayes said.
Hayes took up indoor kite flying about seven years ago, after getting his start in outdoor competitions. In 1999, he placed first in the nation for novice outdoor kite flying. Two years ago, he competed at the national level in the American Kite Association’s indoor competition and came in fifth.
Hayes will compete at the Camas festival this weekend, and will likely fly to Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune.” He plans to use two kites during the routine. One is a purple Wren handmade in Texas.
“It’s a very lightweight kite, so I fly a slow, elegant routine with it,” he said.
The other kite will either be a skate or an iridescent glider made of mylar wrapping paper and a light carbon frame.
Indoor kites can cost hundreds of dollars, but they can be made for practically nothing, said Linda Hayes, who is vice president of the Northwest Sport Kite League. She’s made kites out of bamboo rods and plastic produce bags from the grocery store.
Children will have the opportunity to make simple, frameless indoor kites out of paper at the festival, and can take part in flying lessons.
There also will be demonstrations where competitive flyers can show off without the restrictions of competition. In one such demonstration at a festival in Arlington, Ore., last year, Hayes flew to “You Are So Beautiful To Me” and landed the kite in his wife’s lap.
“I cried,” Linda said of the performance. “(Indoor kite flying) is really, really pretty when it’s done well. Very moving.”
Another showy aspect of the festival is the Hot Tricks competition, where flyers go out two-by-two and have 30 seconds to perform their most impressive moves to music. The audience and other flyers decide who has the best tricks.
A benefit of indoor kite flying versus outdoor is immunity to the Northwest’s fickle weather; one thing people don’t have to worry about this weekend is Mother Nature.
“It’s a great rainy day activity,” Bud Hayes said of the indoor pursuit.
Mary Ann Albright: 360-735-4507, maryann.albright@columbian.com.
