Yesterday, we went to the Kite Festival in Pnei Kedem. Overlooking (in the distance) the Dead Sea, Pnei Kedem is a small (about 20 families, IIRC) yishuv adjacent to Metzad, in Gush Etzion (our “friends” at Piece Now have a beautiful picture of Pnei Kedem… who said they don’t do any good?). Every year (for the past few years, at least), they have a Kite Festival on Chol Hamoed Sukkos. On the summit of a large hill (mountain?) in the Judean Hills, they have the perfect climate for kite flying

I’ve been wanting to go since we made Aliyah in Dec. 2003, but this was the first year we were able to arrange it. There were two buses from Ramat Bet Shemesh, with the subsidized price of only 10 NIS per person. The actual Kite Festival cost 20 NIS, and included admission, kite building for the kids, and lots of other fun activities (a gymboree room, moon bounces, and a small water slide. In an only-in-Israel moment, Magen David Adom was there collecting blood — Kol Hakavod to all those who interrupted their fun to give blood!

Getting in was a little tricky; apparently, this year they had way more than people than previous years, and there was no where near enough space for cars. The (nominally) one lane road to the Yishuv was packed with cars, and our bus wasn’t even allowed near the gate, since there was no place to turn around. Instead, we were dropped off on the road, and walked up.

Once inside, everything was very well done. Many local artisans were selling and Pizza Etzion must have sold hundreds of pies. There were several large Sukkot available, although Chaya Tova and the girls sat outside in the shade while eating, rather than cram into the sukka.

We bought a 35 NIS kite there, which flew beautifully.

My attempt to get Pessie airborne didn’t really work. I suspect that may require a 75 NIS kite.

Pessie really enjoyed making her own kite. It didn’t fly quite as well as the premade one, but so’s life:

The event was organized by members of Pnei Kedem; Suzy & Michael Lourie did an excellent job publicizing the event to the English speaking community (and probably lots more behind the scenes; I’d thought they were the main organizers, but they were modest enough to correct me about that). On the way back, there were a few hiccups with the buses (hiccups as in they didn’t arrive!), and Adina (one of the organizers; I don’t know her last name) did an excellent job working with a really messy situation to make sure everything was orderly. In a similar vein, although I doubt they’ll ever see this, the police did a great job controlling traffic and making sure everyone could get in and out safely and (relatively) smoothly.