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Organizers with the city and its tourism district are preparing for San Ramon’s main event this Memorial Day weekend, with the longstanding Art and Wind Festival expected to draw approximately 40,000 attendees over the course of its two-day run.
The event’s featured artist, Paula Kim, is providing one of its main attractions with her commissioned piece “San Ramon Today” that seeks to capture the city’s proclivity toward bicycles, families and pets, along with kites and the other airborne attractions that the annual festival is known for.
“We hope there’s so much to do the first day that you can’t fit in and have to come back to do the second day,” city recreation supervisor Steven Cox said.
Other major attractions returning this year include a helicopter landing, a kite-making workshop, professional kite-flying demonstrations, and a Memorial Day program outside of the main event area including a commemorative field of flags.
While the festival is a beloved and longstanding tradition dating back to 1987, it has evolved over the years into its current format, with some new changes also set for this year.
One major change is Discover San Ramon, the city’s tourism district, stepping in as title sponsor of the event – which it had sponsored in a smaller capacity last year – in place of Chevron, which had previously been the title sponsor prior to downsizing its operations in San Ramon after moving its headquarters from Bishop Ranch to Texas.
“We’re thrilled to be the title sponsor for this year’s Art and Wind Festival in San Ramon, a beloved community tradition that brings people together in a truly vibrant way,” Discover San Ramon Board Member Candiece Estell said.
The sponsorship is set to see one of the event’s three entertainment stages dedicated to the tourism district, which will also host a nearby booth featuring information, prizes, and “exclusive swag”, Estell said.
“It’s a great opportunity to experience the energy of the city, meet our local hospitality partners, and learn more about what makes San Ramon such a special place to visit,” Estell said. “With colorful kites, unique vendors, and activities for all ages, we’re excited to see the festival continue to grow each year, and we invite everyone to make it a full Memorial Day weekend getaway in San Ramon.”
This year’s event on Sunday and Monday will also see some smaller changes, according to Cox, including moving children’s puppet shows to inside City Hall – with air conditioning – and the availability of a sensory zone for those seeking a reprieve from the crowds and range of attractions on tap.
In addition to the commissioned work by Kim – who will be available for a meet the artist and poster signing at the Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery on Memorial Day from 1-3 p.m. – the festival is set to serve as a showcase for artists and vendors from around the region and state.
“There are probably 150-plus variations of vendors who come out,” Cox said. “Local artists, usually they come from around the state, but if somebody is looking for something it’s a great way to come out and support local artists.”
As for the “wind” part of the festival, thousands of kites are set to be on display throughout the two-day event, ranging from decorative kites to choreographed routines from professional kite flyers throughout the state to new creations at the popular kite-making workshop,
“The kite-making workshop is usually a family thing, although we think of kids flying kites, but the San Ramon community has a real passion for kites,” Cox said.
While the festival is a celebration unique to San Ramon, drawing artists and kite aficionados from around the state and serving as a part of the city’s character, Cox noted that kite flying itself is a tradition that tends to defy geographical and cultural particularities, something that has become all the more apparent as the city has grown and its population has diversified.
“The kite flying aspect of the festival brings people back to their own childhood or a treasured memory that they also share, and that’s why the kite-making workshop has become so popular,” Cox said. “We get over 5,000 kites that people go in and make as families and then go out and fly for the day.”
“As the San Ramon community, we have grown, we are much more culturally diverse, and throughout the world kite flying is universal,” he continued. “People from all over the world have these memories where they grew up in other continents, other countries, and it kind of just brings them back to that place they came from.”
The Art and Wind Festival is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday and Monday (May 25-26). A full lineup and event map is available at sanramon.ca.gov.
