Tulsa Wind Riders’ Festival of Kites
It was another busy weekend! Busy enough that we completely missed Mayfest this year – which is a rarity! But Joss had a three-hour taekwondo test on Saturday, which meant that we were pretty much in relaxation mode for the rest of the day. Then on Sunday (Mother’s Day), we went to Tulsa Wind Riders’ Festival of Kites. 2025 was their 31st annual festival, but it was our first time attending.
Location
The festival is held one block east of 43rd and Garnett. Helpful signs made sure we found it with ease. It’s a large field, so there was plenty of space to fly kites, as well as a few trees around the perimeter with shade. One of the event organizers said there are typically Tulsa Wind Riders members out there on the weekends. I forget if they said Sat. or Sun. But it’s a great kite-flying field, and if you go out on a weekend, you may see some other kite flyers. (It’s across the street from Dove Science Academy, so if you key in your Google Maps to Dove Science Academy, that should be another way to find it.)
As promised in the event description, there is plenty of free, street parking. We parked further away than we probably needed to, but it was still pretty close.
Activities
I was most excited to see the giant “character” kites. And they didn’t disappoint! We saw octopus kites, dragon kites, a giant teddy bear, Spider-Man and Captain America, etc. The festival was held both Saturday and Sunday, and depending on when you went, you’d see different large kites.
Joss’s favorite activity was actually flying kites. They had a kite-making station, so everyone could fly a kite for free. But you could also purchase longer-lasting kites at a variety of price points. We didn’t have our own kite, so after flying his plastic kite for a bit, Joss wanted an upgrade. He chose a very nice rocket ship-themed kite with a loooooooong string! And the man in charge of the sales helped us put it together.
We let it fly way, way up, and I think we were still only about halfway through the string. But that was plenty high. And as the field got a little fuller, we brought it back down. Pretty cool though! The day was nice and windy, which made a huge difference. Last time we tried to fly a kite, it was probably 100 degrees with no wind. That grew exhausting very quickly.
In addition to just hanging out and flying/enjoying kites, the Tulsa Wind Riders did periodic candy drops for kids. And at least on Saturday there were some food trucks. We arrived around noon on Sunday, thinking there would be food options but never saw any. So make sure to bring snacks if you go next year, just in case.
There were also some skilled kite-flyers on hand ready to teach people how to fly a dual-lined kite. I tried to get Joss to go over and ask, but he was really just happy flying his own. Maybe next time!
Know before you go…
As stated previously, I wish we’d brought some snacks with us. But also, I could’ve done a little better at planning in general. I forgot sunscreen and didn’t bring chairs or a blanket, which would’ve been nice. Although we did meet friends who were more prepared, so I got to take advantage of that anyway.
The field/event is very dog friendly.
I believe the organizers said the event is always on Mother’s Day weekend. So if you missed it this year and want to go, save the date for May 9-10, 2026!
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