A steady breeze blew over the field, suspending kites small and large in the air while hundreds of faces, young and old, surveyed the skies.

Kite fans from the American Kitefliers Association, the Illinois Kite Enthusiasts, the Wisconsin Kiters and other groups were in attendance at DeKalb’s Second Annual Kite Day, Sunday at NIU’s North 40.

When not watching the skyline, participants and spectators were entertained with information tents, food vendors, a live DJ and a tent where kids could build their own mini-kite.

“When I first had a kid, a kite was one of the first things we bought for him,” said Chris Overman, a DeKalb resident who is responsible for organizing the event. “It took a couple years before we learned we didn’t need kids to have a good excuse to buy kites and to fly them.”

The event had different areas for different types of kites. Giant kites, which dominated the sky with churning octopus tentacles and slowly twirling 90-foot geckos. bears, penguins, fish, a badger and even a wriggling caterpillar took flight.

There was also a public flying area where anyone who felt like bringing their own kites could spend the day flying them in the shadows of the much larger ones.

A large contingent of volunteers from the NIU community was also on hand.

“We’ve had a great volunteer turnout today, especially from some different Greek organizations and sporting teams,” said Ron Short, who was volunteering at the festival. “We’ve got engineering students, fraternities, sororities and even the women’s basketball team here helping us work it.”

At one point, a 20-foot-wide kite dropped candy from the sky, much to the joy of the younger children, who stood like runners at the start of the marathon, poised to sprint toward the falling treats.

Al Sparling, a former chairman of the American Kitefliers Association from Naperville, manned his three giant kites, which included a multicolored octopus, a yellow and red gecko and a patriotic teddy bear.

“I’ve been to England, France, Thailand and China for kite festivals,” Sparling said. “I actually could have been in Germany today, but I had already committed to the DeKalb festival. Once I told them I was coming, I didn’t want to let them down.”

Sparling said he owns so many kites, he has lost track of the official number.

“Last year, at the Berck-sur-Mer Kite Festival in France, we managed to get 19 giant octopi kites in the air, which is now the world record, up from 13,” Sparling said. “People don’t realize what goes into one of these giant kites. In each one, there’s 250 square meters of fabric and about one kilometer of thread holding it together.”