Cape Town’s skies are about to be coloured with the most incredible show-kites, flying for a good cause!
Ottery, Cape Town (03 September 2025) – You know it’s almost October in Cape Town when the skies come alive with kites. Not the kids-with-string-in-the-park kind (those are cute) but the giant, grin-bringing, where-did-you-even-get-that kind of kites.
Cape Town’s famous International Kite Festival is back.
Now in its 31st year, it’s making a strong comeback with a full two-day event (for the first time since the pandemic) on 25 and 26 October at a new venue, the Youngsfield Military Base in Ottery. There will be more space, more wind, and more room to gasp at the flying whales and rainbow dragons floating above you.
Behind all the fun is a very real mission. Raising awareness for mental health. The annual festival, organised by Cape Mental Health, helps fund free mental health services across the Western Cape.
“Anyone can be affected with a mental health condition at any stage of their lives. The increase in mental health conditions affecting the lives of more than 16.5% of South Africans remains a public concern,” says Professor Doctor Ingrid Daniels, Cape Mental Health Chief Executive Officer.
This year’s theme is ‘Courage To Fly.’ It takes guts to talk about mental health. It takes guts to keep showing up for yourself and others when life feels heavier than a stormy sky. But somehow, every October, thousands of South Africans gather to remind one another that we don’t have to carry the weight alone.
“It takes courage to live with a mental health condition and it takes even more courage to rise above the stigma and talk about the experience and the daily recovery journey,” says Daniels.
Sometimes, just lifting your eyes to the sky can help.
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It’s going to be a bash. There will be local and international kite flyers taking to the skies with amazing show-kites, kite-making stations, food stalls, music, and an amusement park for the kids.
Cape Mental Health has been behind the festival since 1994, and every year they manage to strike that beautiful balance between celebration and awareness.
They run everything from community fly days to inclusive school competitions, and they use the money for a cause that really matters. Mental health services that are lifelines for people who can’t afford private care or don’t know where to turn.
“Despite the ebbs and flows, the good days and the challenging days, people with a mental health condition remain resilient and, like kites soaring against adverse winds, they inspire us to have the courage to fly,” Daniels says.
Grab your tickets here. If you can’t be there in person, you can still support the BackaBuddy campaign and help someone else take flight.
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