Kite Festival Returns to Veterans Park May 25-26, 2024 (Free!)

This May 25th and 26th, Veterans Park is the place to be for The Gift of Wings IKEA Family Kite Festival.

For its 37th year, family-friendly event is bringing the joy, the color, and the excitement of kites to Milwaukee’s lakefront.

The sky at noon will be speckled with over 600 kites taking flight in what’s known as the Grand Launch, with a canvas of colors, shapes, and sizes all dancing in the sky.

And there more to do than just watch.

This event offers performances three times each day by The Fabulous Windjammers, a precision kite flying team from Detroit that knows how to put on a show.

The Chicago Fire Kite Team and Yves Laforest along with the Canadian Dream Team will also be there, bringing with them giant kites and incredible flying skills.

There will be Super Giant Whale kites and a GIANT IKEA Shark kite that you can only see here.

And our very own Milwaukee talents, Mike Delfar and Paul Koepke, will also be joining the aerial extravaganza.

For the kiddos, there’s the Mad City Windows “KIDS MAD DASH” – an opportunity to be one of the 100 kids launching their kites into the sky simultaneously.

Free Kite Flying lessons are available from the pros, Brett Williams and Jim Cosca, the kite whisperers.

Besides the spectacle in the sky, there’ll be kites and food on sale to keep you flying high and well-fed throughout the event.

And the best part? It’s all FREE – the parking, the lessons, the joy, and the sky full of kites.

So, here’s the deal: May 25th and 26th, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (closing at 5 pm on Sunday) in Veteran Park.

Here is some advice from our Instagram followers who have attended in the past: