'It's magical': Swift Current kite festival flies on, even after heavy rains

Despite some flash flooding in Swift Current this week, theSaskPower Windscape Kite Festival is soaring on.

Festival director Sheri Florizone said the site is on higher ground, so it sees less severe water flow after heavy rains.

"By morning, we come back to the field and it's pretty much dried out and we're able to get back to work," she said.

Swift Current was hit witha major downpouron Tuesday afternoon, which resulted in flooded basements and some of the city's sewer systems being overwhelmed.

But that wasn't enough to stop the festival, which began on Saturday and will see kites of all shapes, sizes and colours fill the sky.

The festival, now in its 15th year, has drawn people from as far away as the Philippines this year.

Orlando Ongkingco, founding president of the Kite Association of the Philippines, has been interested in kites since he was a young boy. His grandfather made him a a brown paper kite and let him fly it.

"He gave me so much fun and enjoyment and I still remember it up to this very day," he told CBC Radio's Saskatchewan Weekend.

"It's the mystery of flight. It's like a bird, and being a young boy at that age, something flying that you can control with a string it's magical."

Ongkingco said that kite-making and flying is part of tradition and culture not only in the Philippines, but throughout Asia as well.

He decided to found the Kite Association of the Philippines after he learned of other associations abroad.

"The main objective of the Kite Association, or the KAP, is actually to revive and develop the kite tradition of the Filipinos," he said.

This is Ongkingco's second time at the Windscape festival. He said he likesgatherings like the one in Swift Current, which give him a chance to meet his "wind brothers and wind sisters."

In addition to the kites, the festival offerslots of activities and food trucks, said Florizone, who recommends people dress for the weather and take in the event.

"It's a great time. Come onout even just for an hour ortwo," she said.

The festival runs until 5 p.m. CST Saturday, and continues Sundayfrom 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.