The air is cool but the hospitality is warm. The East Coast has Wildwood and the West has Berkeley . Plus you get the added benefit of an incredible vista on the edge of San Francisco Bay. All events are held in Caesar Chavez Park, an old land-fill which has been converted into a grassy peninsula jutting into the Bay. Sailboats drift by as the winds gust off the water.
Crowds are the best on the West Coast.
And to top things off, their award banquet is on a floating restaurant that cruises the Bay. I remember one year we had to bring down all the kites because the President's helicopter was coming in for a landing across the street at the White House and our festival was in the flight path. Smithsonian was started by Paul Garber. It has been going on so long that some families have three generations of trophy winners. The event is on the Green, right at the base of the Washington Monument.