Flying kites for clean air

Angelique Flores

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Kites will soar overhead at Pier Plaza on Sunday

to encourage building a pollution-free ozone.

The city welcomes the first Free-to-Breathe Kite Festival in hopes of

raising awareness about the effects of air pollution on lungs and to

encourage the community to do its part to clean the air.

The event will feature professional kite-flying demonstrations and

lessons, hands-on guidance in kite building, a poster and poetry contest

and a candy drop from the sky.

“We thought that having a kite festival would be a really good way to

demonstrate an element that’s hard see, which is air,” said Kristi Munns,

spokeswoman for the American Lung Assn., the event’s organizers.

With May being National Clean Air Month and Southern California

ranking second in the nation with the worst air pollution, the festival

is especially timely.

“It’s incredibly important,” Munns said. “Not many people associate us

with clean air, but it affects the lungs.”

Youths will be able to visit activity booths and other booths with

information on lung health and how they can contribute to a

pollution-free ozone. Festival-goers can also dedicate and fly a kite in

memorial of a loved one lost or living with a lung disease.

“It’s going to be a fun event to make kids think about why they need

to think about taking care of their bodies and not smoke and damage

lungs,” said Tracy Pellman, co-chair of the festival.

The American Lung Association of Orange County hopes the festival will

gather about a thousand people and become an annual event at the pier.

The festival is sponsored by Fountain Valley Hospital, Hoag Hospital,

Orange Coast Memorial Hospital, South Coast Air Quality Management

District and the Kite Connection. The Kite Trade Assn. has made the

festival its west coast event.

FYI

The Free-to-Breathe Kite Festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday at the north side of Pier Plaza at Pacific Coast Highway and Main

Street in Huntington Beach. The event is free and open to the public.