The Cape Fear Kite Festival is one of the best annual festivals in Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Get all the details so you can plan your trip next year here.
Fort Fisher is a quick drive from Wilmington, so you’ll probably want to visit there as well. For more about the area, check out all of our Wilmington posts.
The Cape Fear Kite Festival is so cool. Every year, I’d see photos of a sky full of kites all over my Facebook feed. But, for one reason or another, we never made it to the festival until this year.
When we were trying to make plans, we had very few details. I knew the time and that there would be kites there. And other than that, there wasn’t that much information online.
And that’s frustrating, especially if you’re coming from out of town to check out the Cape Fear Kite Festival. So, to help future festival goers, I put together this post with all the Cape Fear Kite Festival information that I can offer.
There are a bunch of really great festivals in New Hanover County, which is where this festival is. For more of those to add to your calendar, check out our Guide To Festivals In Wilmington, NC.
Cape Fear Kite Festival: Everything you need to know
Affiliate links are included in this post and Drugstore Divas may make a small commission if you use them.
The Cape Fear Kite Festival happens annually on the first weekend of November, which makes it the final kite event of the professional kite flying season. The three-day festival is split between Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Fort Fisher. It all depends on what day you go, what you want to see, and if you want more than just kites.
The Friday of the weekend has a sneak peek in the afternoon at the Kure Beach Pier. Then, on Friday evening, there’s a lighted night flight at the Carolina Beach boardwalk.
The rest of the weekend is a daytime festival with the kites on the beach at the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area and a small vendor festival (with food, alcohol, and a stage for live bands).
It’s a really great event for the entire family. So mark your calendar and get ready to go fly a kite (or, well, to watch some people fly a kite).
Cape Fear Kite Festival: Schedule Of Events
This is the 2023 schedule. We’ll be sure to update it in the future for future events.
Friday, November 3
Both Friday events are kites-only.
11 am to 2 pm: Kure Beach Pier Fly (100 Atlantic Ave, Kure Beach).
This is a sneak peek and a way for the kite flyers to check out their kites before the main event. It’s open to the public, but there won’t be as many kites as the other events.
7 pm to 9 pm: A Night With Kites at the Carolina Beach Boardwalk (100 Charlotte Ave, Carolina Beach).
The kites will be illuminated as they fly in the night sky.
Saturday, November 4
10 am to 4 pm: Cape Fear Kite Festival at Fort Fisher Recreation Area (1000 Loggerhead Rd, Kure Beach).
The kites will be flown along the beach. There will also be a radio DJ on the beach playing music. Once you leave the beach access (and walk past the bathrooms near the visitor’s center), there will be vendor tents selling products and toys, face paining, food trucks, and a stage for bands. A tent with tables under it will also be in this area.
11 am to 3 pm: The Old North State will be playing on the stage.
Sunday, November 5
10 am to 4 pm: Cape Fear Kite Festival at Fort Fisher Recreation Area (1000 Loggerhead Rd, Kure Beach).
The kites will be flown along the beach. There will also be a radio DJ on the beach playing music. Once you leave the beach access (and walk past the bathrooms near the visitor’s center), there will be vendor tents selling products and toys, face paining, food trucks, and a stage for bands. A tent with tables under it will also be in this area.
10 am to noon: The Greas will be playing on the stage.
12:30 pm to 3:30 pm: Many Everythings will be playing on the stage.
Cape Fear Kite Festival: Frequently Asked Questions
No tickets are required. The event is free and open to the public.
It’s not. The event will be canceled for severe weather, including high winds and rain. In fact, the event was canceled in 2021 because of poor weather conditions.
Because kite flyers who are part of the American Kitefliers Association travel from all over the country for the event, it’s impossible to reschedule it.
Parking will depend on the day.
For Friday afternoon, the kites will be flown near the Kure Beach Pier (100 Atlantic Ave, Kure Beach). There is paid street parking a block up from the pier. There are lots as well, but those are mostly for the local restaurants and for hotel parking, so make sure you’re in a public spot before leaving your car.
For Friday evening, the kites will be on the beach near the Courtyard by Marriott in Carolina Beach (100 Charlotte Ave, Carolina Beach). So, put that address in your GPS and park on the public street parking or in lots closest to that hotel.
For Saturday and Sunday, you’re going to follow directions to the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area (1000 Loggerhead Rd, Kure Beach), park, and then walk (quite a bit) on the beach to get to where the kites are.
We highly recommend you get there early. We arrived at 9:45 am on Saturday and had no trouble or traffic. When we left around 12:30 pm, there was so much traffic. It was backed up for miles. We saw people parking and walking miles away from the beach. So, heed our warning and get there early.
Each day features different kites. Some are repeats, of course, but not all of them. So you could go every day if you wanted. However, we think going once during the weekend is enough, especially because there are so many seasonal activities this time of year.
The weather in Southeastern North Carolina is usually still in the high 70’s, low 80’s during early November. However, all the Kite Festival events require wind, so that’s why they’re on the beach near the ocean, which is generally cooler than inland. So, we suggest wearing layers with a long-sleeved sweatshirt on top.
Also, if you’re not VIP for the Fort Fisher events, you’ll park in a lot that requires you to walk pretty far on the beach to get to the kites. And, even if you do park in VIP, you’ll still walk quite a bit from the beach access to the end of the kites.
We wore sneakers absolutely regretted it. Flip flops would have definitely been a better choice.
We saw a lot of people carrying chairs and setting them up on the beach to watch the kites. However, we never sat down (on the beach side of the festival). So for us, carrying the chairs across the beach and back would have been a waste.
Good Hops Brewing, one of the local breweries near Wilmington, was on site selling draft and canned beer, including an Italian pilsner and a light ale in 2023.
Alcohol is permitted in the vendor area, but not on the beach near the kites.
Pets on a leash are permitted, however, it’s up to the owner to keep their animals away from the kite lines.
You’re not allowed to fly your own kites on the beach. However, on the vendor side, there’s a grassy/parking area where kids can fly kites. In fact, at the tent where you can buy Cape Fear Kite Festival merch, you can purchase a disposable kite.
Crayons are set up at nearby tables so kids can color their kites and then fly them in the grassy/parking area.
You can follow the festival on Facebook for the most up to date information.
Please note, Drugstore Divas is not associated with the festival or the Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce so this information is updated to the best of our ability, but for specific questions or comments, we suggest you contact them.
Where to stay for the Cape Fear Kite Festival:
Fort Fisher isn’t a tourist town, although it does have the Fort Fisher Aquarium, but that’s about it.
So, we recommend that you stay in Carolina Beach, which is a quick 15 minute drive from Fort Fisher. That’s a big tourist town with a vintage boardwalk and rides (although they’re usually closed during the Cape Fear Kite Festival weekend), shops, restaurants, and more.
You could also stay in Wilmington, which has a ton of local restaurants and breweries, coffee shops, shopping, ice cream, a boardwalk on the Cape Fear River, tons of bars with live music, and more. Wilmington is about a 30 or so minute drive from Fort Fisher (depending on where in Wilmington you book), but it’ll be a better location to get around to other activities that weekend. Our Wilmington, North Carolina Travel Guide can help you plan the rest of your weekend in the area.
Have you been to the Cape Fear Kite Festival? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.