Kites for Kids Festival taking place in Iowa City, North Liberty

This year's Kites for Kids Festival will take place this year to North Liberty, in addition to its original location in Iowa City.

The impetus behind the third annual festival, according to LaTasha DeLoach, community projects specialist at Johnson County Social Services, is to raise awareness of child abuse.

'We're trying to work as hard as we can to get more education out about prevention as well as interventions,” she said.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the Johnson County Community Partnership for Protecting Children is sponsoring the festival.

Flying kites, DeLoach said, is 'a retro activity that a lot of people don't really do as much anymore.” Teaching a child how to do something such as flying kites also can help prevent abuse from happening, she added, because it helps reduce stress.

'They get to run with their kid with the kite, get it in the air,” DeLoach said. 'April is such a perfect time to do it. It's just great.”

The festival will run from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at North Central Junior High in North Liberty. The rain date is April 25. The festival also will run from noon to 2 p.m. April 25 at Shelter No. 5 in Lower City Park in Iowa City. The rain date is May 2.

In the future, the goal is to continue to expand the event to more Johnson County communities, such as Tiffin or Coralville.

'Every year we hope to grow this,” DeLoach said. 'It's a very simple event - you come out, you get to eat some snacks, get some information and fly a kite with your kid.”

The event is free to community members. Families also can bring their own kites. For younger children, there will be pinwheels and bubbles.

For more information, contact LaTasha DeLoach at (319) 356-6090.