Scheveningen Kite Festival

Each fall Scheveningen, the largest of the Dutch North Sea beach resorts, hosts the Kite Festival. Scheveningen is just about 10 miles from our house. That’s 16 kilometers for the rest of the world. We decided this was a perfect family outing and a great excuse to head to the beach.

Since parking can be a problem, and honestly we enjoy taking public transportation, we biked into Delft in an attempt to catch the #1 tram direct to the beach. As luck would have it the tram never appeared. My quick thinking husband had us jump on a bus (which also uses the same pickup locations) and we headed into Den Haag (the Hague). Once closer to the city center we were able to, at the direction of the bus driver, transfer to another bus that went directly to Scheveningen.

The Scheveningen kite festival starts at noon and we arrived just a bit after that. Up the pier we went for an overhead view. It was a great way to see the beach and take in all the activities. We watched bungie jumpers leap from a tower, a few construction trucks digging up sand on the beach and more kites joining the festivities. The middle section of the pier is completely enclosed and full of trendy restaurants, but not too fancy for families.

Once back down on the sand we headed into the kites. The kite festival hosts a  kite making table for kids. Ever prepared, Jeff brought a small kite for the kids to fly, so we bypassed the kids table. H had a blast learning to fly a kite. He never let go, but loved crashing it into the sand and sending it back up again.

While the big boys were playing, little O and I walked around enjoying the kites aloft. There were shows with agility kites and kite flyers from all over the world. (The evening hosts a kite glow around 8pm, but our kids would not last that long.) You can see a video of the large Jellyfish kite on our YouTube Channel.

There are plenty of beachfront cafes, so when we were tired of playing we chose one to grab coffee and cake. These beach seats still provided a great view of the kites.

As usual bathrooms are hard to find so make sure you bring some coins as there are several pay toilets available (0.50 Euro is the standard fare). The kite festival is in the fall and therefore it is not warm. We were comfortable in varying layers as the clouds and sun blanketed the beach. The water was freezing and encroached on the beach quickly.

There is plenty of Scheveningen left to explore. We passed up the Scheveningen lighthouse, the sea life center and a carousel on this visit. Traveling Mom has a great post on the fun sculptures surrounding the sea life center and they are on my list for our next visit.

The tram was running when we were ready to head home. It was an easy 30 min tram ride back to our bikes. H fell asleep on the tram and was rudely awakened when we were stuffing him back into his bike seat for the last leg home.

What can I say, it was a high-flying good time!