Somewhere around midmorning today, if the breeze plays along, a shark the length of a bus will lift off the sand at Bondi and hang in the blue above the surf. Behind it come the rest: whales, tigers, teddy bears, long rainbow tails and, this year, the giant kites of Sumpango in Guatemala, built by hand from paper and bamboo and flown at Bondi as guests. Festival of the Winds began in 1978 as a small community gathering and is now one of Australia's largest kite festivals, run by Waverley Council with the Australian Kiteflyers Society, whose members bring the show kites, the handmade creations and the stunt kites that dance low over the crowd. On a good day fifty thousand people come, and most of them spend a fair part of it standing still with their faces turned up. Gujaga Foundation opens the main stage with a Welcome to Country at 11am, gamelan, flamenco and Polynesian dance follow, the Bondi Beach Public School Choir sings on the Pavilion forecourt, and in the park Edgee Kite Workshops help children build a kite and fly it the same afternoon.

What we love about it is how simple it is. Wind is the only fuel, the sky is the only stage, and a kite flown well in 2026 works exactly as one did in 1978. Everything runs from 10:30am to 4pm at Bondi Beach and Bondi Park, and everything is free. Queen Elizabeth Drive is closed south of the Pavilion from 5am to 6pm and Park Drive South is closed all day, so leave the car at home: extra trains run from Central to Bondi Junction and extra buses down to the beach, with the plan at transportnsw.info. Pack a picnic and a jumper for when the sea breeze fills in, and go early for a patch of sand. If you cannot get there, the photograph above is last September's festival from the same spot, and the kites will be back next year, as they have been for forty eight of them.

Our short take: from Waverley Council's Festival of the Winds 2026 event page (program, times and transport), the Australian Kiteflyers Society, and Jay's preview for Eastern Suburbs Mums (19 August 2026).