Hundreds of kite enthusiasts packed Rosie's Dog Beach in Long Beach on Sunday for a festival that mixed centuries-old Bangladeshi tradition with beachside Americana, sending giant octopuses, a witch on a broomstick and a homemade Black Lives Matter kite soaring over the sand. Organizers handed out 500 free kites and 300 backpacks to children and families, part of a free event that ran from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. and blended kite flying, food, live music and cultural dance.
The 13th annual Long Beach Kite Festival, as reported by the New York Post, was hosted by the Pacific Kite Club of California, a grassroots nonprofit started by local ocean lovers and community organizers. The club, which hosts kite festivals year-round, said its mission is to bring people together through kite flying while encouraging care for the environment. Beyond the festival itself, the organization leads year-round beach cleanups, donation drives and youth outreach programs, according to the Pacific Kite Club.
A Festival Held in Memory of Its Founder
This year's event carried extra weight for organizers. The 2026 gathering was held as a special tribute to the late Omar Hassan Mamun, the founder of the Pacific Kite Club who established the organization to bring communities together through kite flying, per the club's own account. Mamun also served as chief advisor to the Moreno Valley Sports Club and had led the festival's growth in the years before his passing.
Attendees at Rosie's Dog Beach showed off a colorful array of handmade and store-bought kites, including a giant octopus, a black and green spider, a rocketship and a shark, the Post's report noted. Greg Morrison, attending for the second year, flew an orange octopus kite, while Jimmy Westby showed off a homemade Black Lives Matter kite and told the outlet he'd traveled to California kite festivals as far north as Morro Bay. Westby attended this year's festival with his wife and family across both days of the event.
Roots in a Centuries-Old Bangladeshi Tradition
The festival explicitly honors Shakrain, the Bangladeshi festival of kites, and organizers describe the Long Beach event as an annual celebration of that centuries-old tradition. Shakrain originated in Old Dhaka, where residents traditionally fly kites from rooftops during the day, host fire-breathing shows and launch fireworks at night, according to Anadolu Ajansı. The holiday marks Poush Sangkranti, the end of Poush, the ninth month of the Bengali calendar, and coincides with Poush Sankranti, or Makar Sankranti, a major South Asian solar holiday celebrated with kite flying across India, Nepal and Bangladesh, as documented by The Daily Star.
That lineage showed up in small but meaningful ways beyond the kites themselves. This year's festival featured a traditional Bangladeshi pitha competition, where attendees showcased homemade Bengali rice cakes and other traditional snacks, according to the Pacific Kite Club. Pitha is a staple of Bangladeshi winter hospitality and Shakrain celebrations. The event also featured live Bangladeshi music, cultural dance performances, games and art contests, alongside food from local vendors and an awards ceremony recognizing the day's kite fliers.
From a Small Gathering to a Regional Draw
The festival's growth traces back to modest beginnings. What is now a free, open-to-the-public event drawing hundreds of families across Southern California started as a small gathering among local Bangladeshi immigrants before expanding over 13 years, according to reporting by the LA Times. Prior editions were held nearby at Granada Beach before organizers moved the 2026 festival to Rosie's Dog Beach; both spots sit along Ocean Boulevard in Belmont Shore and are managed by Long Beach's Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine.
The venue itself carries its own local history. Rosie's Dog Beach opened in June 2001 and remains the only legal off-leash dog beach along Los Angeles County's 70-mile coastline, per LAist. The three-acre stretch was established following a community initiative led by activist Justin Rudd and named after his bulldog, Rosie — a fitting backdrop for a festival built around bringing people, and their kites, together on the sand.
Long Beach's kite gathering also fits into a broader Southern California pattern of coastal kite events, including the Redondo Pier Kite Festival, which held its annual run in Redondo Beach in March, according to the Redondo Pier Association. Steady ocean breezes and wide sandy beaches have long made SoCal's piers and shores popular gathering spots for kite enthusiasts, a tradition the Pacific Kite Club continues to build on with its year-round programming and community outreach.
