Wind that is strong and steady belongs at sea, where the waves show it off. You walk out the Fano Marina, holding on to you your hat, past the colorful fishing huts on the pier, past the giant blocks of cement with rebars and seashells, out to the odd tonnage of storm blocks shaped like fat jacks.

You look out on the Adriatic as if you were at sea. Such a joy.

The wind last Friday morning was perfect for the opening debut of “Un Mare di Aquiloni,” A Sea of Kites, a two-day festival of all kinds of kites on Lido Beach in Fano. A few surfers braved the waves, but no fishing boats could be seen out on this wind-combed water. Not even the “quadri” were in use, those square frames holding the fishing nets hanging from the elevated huts on the pier. (But this was also May Day, Festa dei Lavaratori in Italy, a “Labor Day” of no work.)

The local paper said the crowded event was more successful than expected, thanks to the suprattutto vento, the strong wind in the morning and summery skies. The beach and its walkway of restaurants and tents were crowded. Visitors, with lots of adored children, arrived from well beyond Fano. The article quoted happy holidayers from Pesaro (a bigger beach town to the north), Jesi and even Milan.

Kites competed in acrobatic contests. Five buzzing aerial speed demons followed each other around in tight figure eights and circles, controlled by five athletic puppeteers who somehow avoided getting their lines tangled.

But what captivated most, in slow awe, were the giant sea creatures. A squid faced the wind, high among other animals, a pirate, extraterrestrials and cartoon characters. The squid’s extra-long tentacles and sucker cups flowed with a slow undersea fluidity.

And then there were the two whales, the smaller one underneath. Both seemed to be the actual size of large whales. The wind kept them aloft, sneaking into their bulk, I guess, through small slits above and below their mouths. Many tiny strings held them facing the sea.

Wind, as unseeable as the Spirit of God, held these enormous whales in a lighter-than-air magic. They looked as graceful as anything under the waves.

Kites play with a spirit that can catch us too, giving the invisible a local habitation and a name.