Maryland Kite Society

As if to stand accepted conventions on their heads from the very beginning, the Maryland Kite Society has the distinction of being an outgrowth of a kite festival, instead of the other way around. The Maryland Kite Festival officially began in 1967, two years before the Society was founded. Apparently, someone felt that if the festivals were so much fun, then an official group would be even more fun. Several of the "key suspects" in the early history of MKS were also instrumental in the founding of our national kiting organization, the American Kitefliers Association (AKA).

		The Society is serious about kitebuilding and kiteflying workshops for hobby kite fliers and community organizations. MKS offers kitebuilding and kiteflying workshops for groups, young and old, who are interested in kites.



	The Maryland Kite Society is an affiliated club of the American Kitefliers Association (AKA).


	The Maryland Kite Society is well known for its kitemaking retreats. RETREAT 2008 INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE! CLICK HERE


	Organized on January 25, 1969, The Maryland Kite Society (MKS) is the second oldest active kite club in the United States. While its membership hails mainly from the mid-Atlantic states, the MKS boasts members from across the nation and several foreign countries.

MKS's official set of purposes include sharing information about kitemaking and kiteflying, providing ongoing continuity and support for local kite festivals and subsidiary groups of kiting enthusiasts, and providing a community education resource for the development of kite craftspeople and flyers of present and future generations.

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Our Goals are:

-- T o promote kite flying in the State of Maryland and elsewhere as a rewarding form of recreation for all ages — the pleasure of the moment, the joy of a lifetime.
-- To share information about kitemaking and kiteflying.
To provide ongoing continuity and support for local kite festivals and subsidiary groups of kiting enthusiasts.
-- To provide a community education resource for the development of kite craftspeople and flyers of present and future generations.

MKS activities include the annual Maryland International Kite Festival held the last weekend in April; the annual Maryland Kite Building Retreat held the third weekend in February; and the annual Sunfest Kite Festival held in Ocean City on the third weekend in September. MKS members are also instrumental in organizing the Smithsonian Kite Festival.

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The Maryland Kite Society claims many firsts: it is the first affiliated chapter of the AKA; first kite club with a newsletter (literate or otherwise); first kite club to inaugurate an imaginary person as a club director (one of the best the Society ever had); first kite club to organize weekend kite retreats; the first kite club from Baltimore to hold a kite festival in the Washington area; the first local sponsor of an AKA convention; and the first local sponsor of two AKA conventions


	© Copyright 2008 The Maryland Kite Society