Sean Beaver’s love for kites dates back to his childhood.

“I flew kites as a kid and now I’m flying bigger kites as a big kid,” said Beaver, the president of the Kansas City Kite Club.

The third annual DeKalb Kite Festival had kite demonstrations from kite enthusiasts and kids flying their own kites outside the NIU Engineering Building Sunday.

One of the kites Beaver demonstrated was the 190-foot-wide sock kite.

“To my knowledge, this is the largest sock kite around,” he said. “It weighs 140 pounds and is the height of a three story building.”

Kite Fest Chairman Doug Nelson found the event to be great for the DeKalb community.

“Kite Fest gets the community involved and gives families something to do together,” he said.

The origins of Kite Fest goes back a few years to a boy who wrote to the late former Mayor Frank Van Buer.

“Two to three years ago a boy named Nathan Overman wrote a letter to the mayor asking if DeKalb could have a Kite Fest,” Nelson said. “And the mayor said it sounded like a good idea and they started having the event.”

Kite Fest not only brings people from DeKalb, but from outside of Illinois as well.

“We have received people from Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri and Michigan,” Nelson said.

Becky Harlow, assistant director for student involvement and leadership development, said she

likes what Kite Fest does for families.

“I like the fact that it brings families together and that it gets kids outside of their house,” she said.

A simple pastime of flying kites can mean more than it does to most people. Beaver does kite demonstrations to make a difference in people’s lives.

“Flying kites for me, is a business of changing peoples’ lives and giving them a hobby,” he said.