Wind Festival 2018 arrived with a bigger rider target, a fuller schedule, and a beach stage at Flamingos-Nuevo Vallarta. The ninth edition expected 300 competitors from Mexico and abroad, building on the event’s 2017 participation record. Freestyle, Big Air, Slalom, and long-distance racing all had space on the program. The story is also one of movement: a festival that started in Bucerías, grew fast, and kept Banderas Bay in the kiteboarding conversation for another May weekend.
Wind Festival 2018 set a larger mark
Wind Festival 2018 was scheduled for May 18 to 20 on the beach at Flamingos-Nuevo Vallarta. The ninth edition gave Riviera Nayarit a three-day kiteboard event with a bigger target than the year before.
Organizers expected 300 competitors from Mexico and abroad. They also expected about 5,000 spectators and 100 media representatives. That would surpass the 2017 mark, when the eighth edition registered 250 riders.
From Bucerías to Flamingos-Nuevo Vallarta
The festival began in 2011 through the Mexican Kiteboard Association, according to festival director Alejandro Ochoa. Bucerías was selected as the first host beach. The turnout, Ochoa said, exceeded what organizers had expected.
By 2016, the event had been added to the 100 Imperdibles de México list in the Moments and Events category. A year later, the festival set its participation record with 250 registered riders.
For its ninth edition, the program covered Freestyle, Downwind, Slalom, Big Air, Long Distance, and Foil Regatta. Kiteboarding, also called kitesurfing or flysurfing, uses a kite to pull riders across the water. From shore, that means bright kites, quick passes, and riders trying not to make gravity look smug.
Three days of races and finals
Friday’s schedule called for qualifiers in Freestyle Pro, Freestyle Old School, Women’s Freestyle, and Big Air.
Saturday brought the first rounds for Freestyle Pro and Freestyle Old School. The same day also included Downwind, Slalom, and the Women’s Freestyle Final. Sunday closed with the Long Distance Regatta, Freestyle Pro Finals, Freestyle Old School Finals, and Big Air Finals.
The Wind Festival had already been described as one of the 20 best tournaments of its kind in the world. It was also listed among the five best in Mexico. Organizers pointed to Banderas Bay’s natural conditions, regional links, and Riviera Nayarit’s tourism infrastructure.
More event information was directed through the Festival del Viento website. For related regional wind-sport coverage, Vallarta Daily has also published a later report on Riviera Nayarit kitesurf World Cup.
