Bondi Beach is about to fill up with giant kites as Festival of the Winds returns

Bondi Beach turns into a giant, wind-powered art installation every spring, and this year it happens on Sunday 13 September when Festival of the Winds takes over the sand again.

Giant kites, some the size of small cars, will fill the sky above Bondi from 11am to 4pm. Entry is free, which in 2026 is basically a miracle for anything happening within cooee of Sydney's eastern suburbs.

The festival has been running for decades, presented by Waverley Council alongside the Australian Kite Flying Society, and it always lands on the second Sunday of September. That consistency is part of the charm. You know exactly when to pencil it in every year.

Expect the usual mix of professional kite flyers doing genuinely impressive things overhead, live entertainment on the sand, food stalls and a crowd that spans toddlers to grandparents without anyone looking out of place. Few Sydney events manage that trick.

The catch is getting there. On-street parking is scarce at the best of times and will be even worse on the day, with the Queen Elizabeth Drive car park closed and road closures in place around the beach. Waverley Council is running extra buses between Bondi Junction and Bondi Beach, plus additional trains between Central and Bondi Junction, so leave the car at home and use public transport instead.

Get there early if you want a decent patch of sand, because by midday the grass verges and footpaths fill up fast and the best kite-watching real estate goes to whoever showed up first. Bring a picnic blanket, sunscreen even if the forecast looks average, and something for the kids to fly themselves, because half the fun is watching amateur kites nosedive into the sand next to the professional ones doing loops fifty metres up.

Festival of the Winds runs from 11am to 4pm on Sunday 13 September at Bondi Beach, entry is free and public transport is the only sensible way in.