Marc Arthur Jean-Louis still checks for the balance of his kite the same way he did as a six-year-old in Haiti. Back then, he folded paper from his notebook and secretly used his mother’s sewing thread to build his first one.
“She didn’t mind as long as I wasn’t getting into trouble,” said Jean Louis.
He now shares the tradition with his own family, mainly his daughter, Lydsay Jean-Louis. They’ve spent decades coming to the annual Kite Festival at Haulover Beach, located just north of Miami Beach between the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean.
Held from Feb. 14-15, the free event attracted hundreds of families, filling the sky with color, 100-foot octopus kites, and handmade designs.
Music played in the background while parents taught their kids how to find the right angle against the wind. Vendors lined parts of the park, and longtime kite enthusiasts helped others find the joy of flying.
“Just watching a kid fly a kite for the first time and hold it and feel that connection is priceless,” said Juan Couto, a decades-long volunteer.
For Marc Arthur, it’s a way to balance out the fast-moving nature of South Florida.
“It’s about patience,” Arthur said. “If the kite isn’t balanced, it won’t fly right. I learned that as a kid, and I still feel it every time I hold the string.”
