The Santa Barbara Kite Festival celebrated its 40th annivesary Sunday.

The annual event attracted several hundred people to Santa Barbara City College. The flew the kits from the college’s Great Meadow.

Check out photographer Aston Smith’s photos and video for the News-Press below.

A perfect blue sky was the backdrop for hundreds of people flying kites on Sunday at the 40th Annual Santa Barbara Kite Festival. (Photo by Aston Smith/Special for the News-Press)
Several hundred kites of all types soared through the air Sunday at Santa Barbara City College. (Photo by Aston Smith/Special for the News-Press)
Several hundred people attended the Santa Barbara Kite Festival, which included a theme of ‘You and Me.’ The kite master is Rakesh Bahadur.( Photo by Aston Smith/Special for the News-Press)
The Great Meadow at Santa Barbara City College offers many angles to run and get a kite in the air. (Photo by Aston Smith/Special to the News-Press)
By noon, much of the grass on West Campus was covered by people flying kites at the Santa Barbara Kite Festival in Santa Barbara. (Photo by Aston Smith/Special for the News-Press)

Aston Smith is an award-winning video journalist, videographer, and photographer with a background in documentary production, sports videography, and visual storytelling. He is studying journalism and communications at Santa Barbara City College.