The story
Festival de Cometas de Valparaiso in Valparaíso
Building on Chile's September kite-flying tradition, Valparaiso turns its steep hillside cerros into an organized flying ground for the Festival de Cometas. Families and enthusiasts fly kites against a backdrop of colorful hillside houses and the harbor below, aided by the city's strong afternoon winds, in a loose, participatory event closer to a community gathering than a staged spectator show.
September in Chile is kite-flying season, tied loosely to the arrival of spring and, more specifically, to the Fiestas Patrias period around Independence Day when flying a cometa becomes a widespread informal tradition in parks, hills and open spaces across the country.