Dana Point Festival of Whales Gets Off to a Wet Start Under Blustery Skies : Celebration: But sun appears in afternoon to reward kite flyers. 50,000 are expected to attend the nine-day schedule of events.

Two-year-old Alex Leies wasn’t going to let the Saturday morning rain keep him from flying his black and yellow Batman kite at the Dana Point Festival of the Whales.

Although the weather put a damper on some festival activities, Leies and his mother came to Doheny State Beach with several colorful kites to take part in a kite flying exhibition.

“Alex had such a blast,” said his mother, Trish Leies. “We got caught in the rain, but it was worth it. We went home, he took a nap and we came right back out.”

The kite show, a street fair, art exhibits and a free symphony concert held in the Dana Point Harbor area Saturday kicked off the nine-day festival, which will run through Feb. 28.

Organizers expect more than 50,000 visitors to attend the festival, which features volleyball tournaments, scuba diving demonstrations, sand sculpture contests and surfing competitions.

Attendance was down for the kite fest Saturday, but those who braved the weather, like the Leies, were rewarded in the late afternoon with sun and ideal kite-flying conditions.

Clear weather by afternoon lured more visitors to different events held around the harbor area. Several whale-watching trips, canceled because of early dangerous waves, were running by the end of the day.

Dana Point Harbor launched the festival 22 years ago, mainly to promote the study of whales through whale watching. The event has attracted a wide range of sponsors since then, and now promotes awareness of other marine animals.

“We’re real pleased with the expansion and being able to accommodate more people,” said Jody Tyson, executive director of the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce. “We have a lot of things to offer.”

The whale-watching excursions, considered one of the highlights of the festival, usually attract about 20,000 people over the festival’s nine-day run.

Jeff Parish, who works for Dana Wharf Sportfishing, said now is the ideal time to observe whales migrating along the route from Baja California to the coast of Alaska.

When whale-watching trips were canceled, Parish went to the street fair at Dana Point Plaza to browse the food, arts and crafts and educational booths that lined the area.

Kirk Ylinen of Dana Point brought his 4-year-old son, Adam, to the street fair to see numerous whale exhibits. “Adam’s real intrigued with whales, and anything having to do with them,” he said.