Event information
Cape Mental Health's flagship fundraiser returns for its 32nd year, filling the skies above Ottery with kites from local and international flyers over a full October weekend. The 2026 edition carries the theme #ColourTheSky, continuing a tradition that began in 1994 and has made the festival Africa's oldest kite event.
Cape Mental Health is a non-profit organisation providing free mental health services, including counselling, crisis support and community-based care, to vulnerable communities across the Western Cape. Proceeds from ticket sales and donations go directly toward funding these programmes.
Visitors can expect large-scale show kites from participating international and local flyers, alongside family entertainment, interactive activities and food vendors across both days. The festival also runs the EduKite competition, a kite-decorating and kite-making contest open to learners from mainstream schools and schools for children with special needs, plus a separate Heideveld community kite fly.
Professor Ingrid Daniels, CEO of Cape Mental Health, has described the festival as an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health conditions and encourage help-seeking behaviour, alongside its role as a major fundraiser for the organisation's free services.