Paul Luetzen began making his own kites when he was just 5 years old. It’s been a passionate hobby of his ever since, and he’s made many friends along the way. One of those friends was Rollie Metz.

“When I moved back up here in 2005, I started flying the big ones with Rollie,” Luetzen said.

Luetzen and Metz used to fly kites for years at the location where the new Tractor Supply store was built. They also flew kites at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church.

Metz died of pancreatic cancer more than four years ago, but North Dakota kite fliers have made it a point to gather at least once a year in Minot to host Rollie Fest in honor of their kite flying friend.

Audin Rhodes/MDN Paul Luetzen helps another kite flier’s kite get airborne again at the Minot Kite Fliers’ Rollie Fest on Saturday.

“We wanted to call it Rollie Fest,” Luetzen said. “We’re going to start doing it in the spring and one in the fall.”

Luetzen still flies the big ones and this year was no exception. One of his kites was an incredibly long yellow and red-tailed kite, swimming through the air like a giant sea snake.

“It’s the first time I’ve had that tail on there. I couldn’t believe how long it is,” Luetzen said. “The tail weighs more than the whole kite.”

For Luetzen, taking the kites down is more time consuming than launching them up. The larger kites are staked into the ground and are mostly self flying, with some occasional adjustments and assistance from human hands.

Berna and Darwin Smith have been flying kites for around 20 years and used to come to Minot to fly with Metz but now come up to remember him.

Kite fliers from across North Dakota and even Nebraska gathered in Minot on Saturday for Rollie Fest, a kite flying festival dedicated to the late Rollie Metz.

“We used to try and fly around Rollie’s birthday time,” said Berna Smith. “We’ve flown up here with Rollie for years and years at various places around Minot but we could never get a full blown festival and such going on.”

Rollie Fest is also one of the last fall events for Minot and North Dakota kite fliers as a whole before the incoming season change.

Rena Rustad of Prairie Winds Kite Company is one of the central coordinators for Rollie Fest and is a kite vendor at the annual festival as well.

Kite fliers from across North Dakota and even Nebraska gathered in Minot on Saturday for Rollie Fest, a kite flying festival dedicated to the late Rollie Metz.

Kite fliers from across North Dakota and even Nebraska gathered in Minot on Saturday for Rollie Fest, a kite flying festival dedicated to the late Rollie Metz.