Scott County Kentucky Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival
A spring sky over Georgetown fills with colour when the Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival opens its grounds, and the sight of kites above Scott County Park has become one of the town’s most cheerful seasonal markers. The festival is a community fundraiser first and a day out second: the Rotary club that runs it puts the proceeds toward scholarships for local high school students, so every kite in the air is tied to a practical purpose back in town. Its published name has shifted over the years, from a culture festival in its earlier form to the shorter name the club uses today, and the record keeps those forms separate rather than smoothing them into one.
About the Festival
The Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival is a spring kite festival held in Georgetown, the county seat of Scott County. An event-listing layer reproducing the organiser’s posts prints the sheet’s exact name, while the Rotary club’s own website calls the event the Kite Festival, and tourism layers from twenty ten through twenty eighteen print the earlier forms Georgetown Kite and Culture Festival and Georgetown International Kite and Culture Festival. Georgetown is the county seat, a fact a state reference layer confirms, The current venue is Scott County Park, named by the Rotary club’s own website for twenty twenty-five and by an event-listing layer for twenty twenty-six, while earlier editions were held at the Cardome Center, recorded by a charity event-calendar layer for twenty twenty-four and by a tourism press-release layer for twenty eighteen. The festival is presented by the Georgetown Rotary Club, also styled the Rotary Club of Georgetown in its festival’s web address as carried by a listing layer, and a twenty eighteen tourism layer states the festival was sponsored by the Georgetown Rotary. The club gives one thousand five hundred dollar scholarships to each high school, according to the club’s own history, which makes the festival’s purpose plain: a day of flying kites that pays for students’ next steps.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
| Festival name | Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival |
| County | Scott County |
| Host town | Georgetown |
| County seat | Georgetown |
| Current venue | Scott County Park |
| Earlier venue | Cardome Center |
| Organiser | Georgetown Rotary Club |
| Latest documented edition | May 16, 2026 |
| Programme | Kite flying, food trucks, live music, vendors |
| Admission | Ten dollars per car in 2026, per an event-listing layer |
History
The Rotary club’s own history page gives the festival’s beginning in its own words: the Kite Festival began in twenty oh seven and now funds scholarships, and the club resurrected the festival as its main fundraiser. That statement is the foundation of the record, and it is carried here exactly as the club prints it. The club gives one thousand five hundred dollar scholarships to each high school, and the festival exists to keep that giving going. A kite festival that funds scholarships is a modest idea with a clear purpose, and the club has kept it going through venue changes and a change of name. The record holds one puzzle that the layers never resolve. A tourism-listing layer bills an edition on April seventeenth and eighteenth, twenty ten, as the Tenth Annual Kite and Culture Festival, hosted by the Georgetown Rotary Club, and the same layer lists an edition on April sixteenth, twenty eleven. A tenth annual billing in twenty ten sits uneasily beside the club’s own statement that the festival began in twenty oh seven, and the two are recorded here side by side without reconciliation. Neither figure is converted into a founding year beyond what the club itself states, and no attempt is made here to settle which of the two accounts is right. The festival’s own history is told in the club’s words, and the tourism layer’s billing is told in its words, and the gap between them is part of the record. The documented editions trace the festival’s shape across a decade and a half. The twenty ten and twenty eleven editions carry the culture festival name and belong to the tourism layer’s listing. On April twenty-first and twenty-second, twenty eighteen, a tourism press-release layer documents the Georgetown Kite and Culture Festival on the grounds of the Cardome Center, sponsored by the Georgetown Rotary, with cultural demonstrations, food, live music, and kite flying. The cultural element in the name was real in that period: the programme included cultural demonstrations and international-culture programming alongside the kites. On May eighteenth, twenty twenty-four, a charity event-calendar layer documents the Georgetown Rotary Club’s annual Kite Festival at the Cardome Center, running from eleven in the morning until three in the afternoon. By then the name had shortened, and the Cardome Center was still the home ground. The move to Scott County Park came with the twenty twenty-five edition. On May seventeenth, twenty twenty-five, the Rotary club’s own website documents its annual Kite Festival at Scott County Park on that Saturday, with a LEGO build-table attraction among the children’s activities. The twenty twenty-six edition was listed for May sixteenth at Scott County Park, at ten dollars per car, and an organiser post carried by the same layer records that the day was rained out.
What to Expect
A visit to the Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival is an open-air day built around the sky. Kite flying is the centre of the programme: visitors bring their own kites or obtain one on site, and the open grass at Scott County Park gives fliers room to run, launch, and recover without crowding one another. The festival’s recent editions have added layers around that centre. Food trucks and food vendors feed the crowd, live music plays through the day, vendors sell their wares, and bounce houses keep children busy when the wind drops. The festival’s character changes with the weather in a way that few other events do. A kite festival needs wind, and the twenty twenty-six edition shows what happens when the sky does not cooperate: the day was rained out, and the organiser’s own post says so plainly. Visitors should treat the weather as part of the plan rather than an afterthought, and should be ready for a day that depends on the wind. When it does not, the record is honest about the outcome, and the festival’s return the following spring is the thing to look toward.
Planning Your Visit
Georgetown is the county seat of Scott County, and Scott County Park is the festival’s current home, so planning starts with the park rather than with the town centre. The twenty twenty-five edition was held on a Saturday in May, and the twenty twenty-six listing gave hours of eleven in the morning until five in the afternoon, so a midday arrival suits the programme. The earlier Cardome Center editions ran in April and May as well, and the festival has settled into a spring slot in recent years, with May the month in the two latest documented editions. Admission needs care in how it is described. An event-listing layer for twenty twenty-six prints ten dollars per car, which is a per-vehicle charge recorded as that layer’s figure for that edition. No per-person gate price is stated for any edition in the layers read, and none is assumed here. A carload of visitors pays the per-car figure rather than a price per head, and that distinction matters for families planning the day. No other admission figure is printed in the layers read, so visitors should not expect a published ticket price beyond the per-car charge the listing records. Kites deserve a little preparation. Visitors may bring their own, and the festival’s own framing invites that, or they may obtain one on site. Children should have something to do if the wind falls: the bounce houses, the LEGO build tables, and the vendors give the day a second layer, and the food trucks mean lunch is covered without leaving the grounds. The twenty twenty-six rainout is a reminder to check the forecast and the organiser’s posts before travelling, since the club communicates through its own channels when the weather turns.
For a useful comparison, see the Russell County Kentucky Lakefest Festival for another county festival.
A Sample Day at the Festival
A Saturday visit could begin in the late morning, when the grounds are open and the wind is usually building. Arrive with kites ready or plan to obtain one on site, and take a first walk across the park to find open grass away from the vendor rows. The early hours suit first flights, while the ground is still quiet and the wind is fresh. Children can try the LEGO build tables or the bounce houses while adults sort out lines and tails, and the whole party can settle into the rhythm of the day.
How It Compares
The Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival belongs to a small family of Kentucky spring festivals, but its shape is its own. Most county festivals in the state centre on food, music, or a harvest theme, and a kite festival stands apart by making the sky its stage rather than a platform or a midway. The scholarship purpose sets it apart further: the Rotary club’s history page ties the event directly to one thousand five hundred dollar scholarships for each high school, which gives the festival a civic function that a purely commercial fair does not carry. The per-car charge in twenty twenty-six is also distinctive, since it prices the vehicle rather than the visitor, and that arrangement suits families arriving together.
Checklist
- Bring a kite or plan to obtain one on site
- Check the forecast and the organiser’s posts before travelling, after the twenty twenty-six rainout
- Arrive in the late morning for the best wind and the fullest programme
- Budget ten dollars per car for the twenty twenty-six per-vehicle charge
- Allow time to find parking at Scott County Park
- Let children try the LEGO build tables and the bounce houses when the wind drops
- Eat from the food trucks rather than leaving the grounds for lunch
- Walk the vendor rows in the afternoon when the kites are down
- Keep the scholarship purpose in mind: the festival funds students at each high school
- Plan for a spring day outdoors, with sun protection and water
Beyond the Festival Grounds
Georgetown rewards a longer stay than the festival alone requires. The town is the county seat of Scott County, and its centre holds the courthouse square and the streets around it, where visitors can walk after the festival ends. A visitor who arrives the day before the festival or stays the day after will find a small Kentucky county seat that is easy to explore on foot, with shops and places to eat within a short walk of the centre.
Why It Matters
The Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival matters because it ties a simple pleasure to a practical good. Flying a kite costs little and asks only for wind and open space, and the festival turns that pleasure into scholarships for students at each high school. The Rotary club’s own history page makes the link explicit, and the festival’s long run shows that the link has held.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes the Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival different from other spring festivals in Kentucky?
Its centre is the sky rather than a stage or a midway, and its purpose is scholarship funding: the Rotary club’s own history page states that the festival began in twenty oh seven and now funds scholarships, with one thousand five hundred dollar scholarships going to each high school. The combination of kite flying and student support gives the day a civic shape that a purely commercial fair does not carry.
Can visitors bring their own kites to Scott County Park?
Yes. The festival’s programme invites visitors to bring their own kites or to obtain one on site, and the open grass at Scott County Park gives fliers room to launch and recover. Families who bring their own should check lines and sails before leaving home, since repairs are easier there than on the grass.
What happened to the twenty twenty-six edition of the festival?
An event-listing layer documents the twenty twenty-six edition for May sixteenth at Scott County Park, from eleven in the morning until five in the afternoon, with food trucks, live music, vendors, and bounce houses, at ten dollars per car. An organiser post carried by the same layer records that the day was rained out, so the edition is recorded here as a rained-out day rather than a successful held edition.
Which venue hosts the festival today, and where was it held before?
Scott County Park in Georgetown is the current venue, named by the Rotary club’s own website for twenty twenty-five and by an event-listing layer for twenty twenty-six. Earlier editions were held at the Cardome Center in Georgetown, recorded by a charity event-calendar layer for twenty twenty-four and by a tourism press-release layer for twenty eighteen.
What to Expect From the Next Scott County Kentucky Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival
How often is Scott County Kentucky Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival held?
The festival is held in the spring, with May the month in the two latest documented editions, twenty twenty-five and twenty twenty-six, and April the month in the earlier culture festival editions. The record shows a spring pattern rather than a fixed calendar date, and the month has moved between April and May across the years.
When is the next Scott County Kentucky Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival?
No next date is announced in the layers read. The latest documented edition was listed for May sixteenth, twenty twenty-six, and was rained out, and no layer read gives a date for a following edition. The spring pattern points to a May return, but that is a pattern in the record, not an announced date, and visitors should look to the Rotary club’s own website and posts for the next listing.
Will the dates change?
Dates have changed across the years, so a change is possible. The festival has been held in April and in May, its hours have varied from edition to edition, and its venue moved from the Cardome Center to Scott County Park. Visitors should treat any future date as provisional until the organiser’s own listing confirms it. The Georgetown Rotary Kite Festival is a spring day built around wind, open grass, and a practical purpose. Kites rise over Scott County Park, children move between the build tables and the bounce houses, food trucks and music fill the afternoon, and the Rotary club’s scholarship giving runs underneath it all. A visitor who comes for the kites and stays for the community will find both in Georgetown each spring.
