After years of dreaming about going, we were finally here!

As we hopped out of our minivan, we found ourselves in a huge parking lot filled with other kite-fans and vendors.

It's hard to see, but the in background is a huge sign (complete with a kite) that announces the festival. Off in the distance was a large building with the curved roof, which made it look as if the building was about to take off, along with all of the kites!

No, those aren't specks of dust on your computer screen -- they're kites, of course! The skies were filled with them. Every shape, size and color you could imagine, and some you haven't dreamed of before.

The festival is held in a large, elevated field outside the city. Kite-flyers were everywhere, either flying kites, getting ready to launch kites, or (like us) just oohing and aahing as we caught glimpses of new kites at every turn.

When we got tired of looking up into the sky, there was plenty to see on the ground. We had to step carefully so as not to run over piles of kite paraphernalia.

We decided to get closer to the building we had seen at the edge of the field. Turns out it had been built specifically for the festival, and is used to host visiting dignataries and media.

Next to the building were some huge posters, in front of which we snapped the obligatory family photo:

Next up, some of the coolest kites we saw!