The sky above our city will soon be bursting with color: a wide variety of shapes, familiar characters, and the brightest colors will then float above Berlin. From special food promotions at the city’s largest bookstore to the world’s largest Jellycat in-store experience, there’s already plenty going on. But one upcoming highlight stands out in particular: the Giant Kite Festival. On Saturday, September 12, 2026, Tempelhofer Feld will be transformed for the 13th time into a massive stage for spectacular kites.
The STADT UND LAND Festival of GIANT KITES returns to Tempelhofer Feld in September 2026. Admission is completely free, and no advance registration is required. The festival has been running since 2014, and this extraordinary spectacle now attracts tens of thousands of visitors to the former airport grounds every year. The vast open space of Tempelhofer Feld in particular offers ideal conditions for flying kites.
The most impressive aspect of the festival is the sheer size of the flying kites. Some of the giant kites reach sizes of up to 50 meters and are made of hundreds of square meters of fabric. At the 2026 edition, more than 2,000 kites are expected to fill the sky above Tempelhof Field throughout the entire day of the event. To make this happen, around 75 professional kite pilots and 32 teams from Germany and abroad will travel to Berlin. Many of the kites are designed and sewn by the pilots themselves. As a result, the largest kites have little in common with ordinary children’s kites. Rather, they are gigantic flying figures and, in some cases, true works of art. The designs are equally spectacular. For 2026, the lineup includes Super Mario, Batman, Bart Simpson, and Elvis, as well as giant fish, teddy bears, and Chinese dragons. The Super Mario kite alone is expected to reach a size of nearly 30 meters.
Surprisingly, a great deal of technology goes into this colorful spectacle. Berlin-based kite pilot Robert Kirsch, who has been involved with the festival since its very first edition and hosts the demonstrations, explains that under the right wind conditions, the largest kites can generate a pulling force of up to 250 kilograms. These gigantic flying objects therefore cannot simply be held by one person on a string. Some of them must be secured to stakes driven into the ground. At the same time , too little wind also poses challenges for the professionals , as it then takes a great deal of experience and skill just to keep the massive structures aloft at all.
Robert Kirsch builds kites himself that can reach up to 20 meters in size. During the festival, as part of the program, he explains to visitors how the individual models were constructed, what dimensions they reach, and what technology makes it possible to fly such large kites in the first place. In addition to the gigantic kites, the festival will showcase various types of kite flying . Among the kites on display will be single-line, two-line, and four-line kites, as well as various stunt kites. Among the special highlights of the 13th edition are the so-called “Schleyerdeldas,” which are expected to put on a spectacular show in the sky with their long, colorful elements.
However, the Giant Kite Festival isn’t just for spectators. Visitors are welcome to bring their own kites and fly them in designated areas of Tempelhofer Feld. For children, there will also be various creative hands-on activities as well as games and interactive experiences.
