At Sagg Main Beach, on Sunday, August 18, around 4:45 in the afternoon, while you’re lying on your blanket enjoying the waves, sand, wind, sea birds, and sun, peering out from behind your sunglasses, you may see an influx of children, parents, and families with kites in-tow at the beach.
There will be lots of excitement and conversation at this beach at that hour. Accompanied musically by the presence of the legendary Jim Turner Band, which has attended almost every kite fly, the band will start to play in a marked-off area in front of the dunes. After that, a man with a bullhorn will stand up in front of a bridge table at the back of the beach and make an announcement.
Dan’s Kite Fly Always Creates an Unforgettable Scene at Sagg Main Beach
Picture it: the beach, the waves, the sun, the sand, and kites galore. It’s a tradition and outright institution for locals who have made the annual Dan’s Kite Fly a crucial part of wrapping up their summer at Sagg Main Beach.
“The contest will begin in 10 minutes,” he will say. “And if you are tapped on the shoulder sometime in the next half hour by a man or woman who says they are a judge at our Dan’s Papers Kite Fly, you will be a winner. Come to the control tower to claim your prize. This little table behind me is the control tower.”
Eleven Prizes Will Be Awarded to the Winners
And so that is how, this year, on Sunday at 5:30 p.m., you will realize you are now in the middle of the annual Dan’s Papers Kite Fly — an event that begins at 5 p.m. and goes to 6:30 p.m. The Town of Southampton has given us the go-ahead to have the Kite Fly, just as they do every year for the last 53 years.
This is a very popular event. At the kite fly now are grandparents who, years ago, brought their children to the event, who are now watching these same children, now fully grown, enjoy competing in the kite fly with their children.
There will be 11 winners altogether. They will be those who have won the prize for the Highest Flying Kite, the Most Beautiful Kite, the Smallest Kite, the Most Newsworthy Kite, the Scariest Kite, the Best Homemade Kite, the Oldest Kite Flyer, the Youngest Kite Flyer, the Biggest Kite Flyer, the Ugliest Kite Flyer, and the Kite Flyer in the Best Costume.
Enjoying Dan’s Kite Fly
There is no charge for attending this event, no charge for parking at the event (the town waives all parking fees for non-residents), and no charge for entering. No charity benefits from the kite fly. No registration form is to be filled out and submitted. It’s just the flying of kites, creating this tremendous creative herd in the sky, and the possibility of winning a prize.
Unexpected things sometimes happen at the Kite Fly. A clown or a magician may show up.
A face painter might show up. One year, a group of hobbyists from Manhattan arrived and blew up gigantic exotic beach inflatables down by the water’s edge. They were then launched into the surf. That year, great floating dinosaurs and dragons bounced around through the waves below the kites.
Another year, people on horseback from a nearby ranch came to watch. It’s all just for fun, and it’s become something people rely upon repeatedly to close out the summer of themselves and their children, sending everyone back into the daily routine of the school year with good times, sun, and some high-soaring spectacle.
