High-Flying Kite Festival Draws All Eyes to the Skies

The Berkeley Kite Festival has shifted its focus over the years. Today, giants dominate: octopi, manta rays, a a prehistoric trilobite, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

One of the stars of this weekend's festival will be the flying "octopile" - a pile of a dozen or more octopi.

Festival founder Tom McAlister tells the Chron he has a thing for repetitive patterns in art: "When you fly that many, they come alive in a way that's just fantastic - the patterns and the tails and the movement."

The festival fills the skies over the Berkeley Marina with all manner of airborn creations the last weekend in July each year. The Cesar Chavez Park event includes kitemaking workshops, arts and crafts, food and more. New this year: Free shuttles from Golden Gate Fields and a special "Kids Zone."