By Tim Parish
If you want to see a large kites festival, there are quite a number to choose from. At any time of the year it's not long before a major kite flying festival gets underway somewhere on the planet. In this short article I will introduce you to 2 big kite festivals that are held every year.
The Bristol Kite Festival
This English event is officially known as The Bristol International Festival of Kites and Air Creations. It's been running since the mid eighties, and it's probably the largest and most well known such festival in the Western world.
The following list is a general summary of what the kites festival at Bristol is all about.
* 2 days of non-stop wind-driven flying, art and culture, both air-based and ground-based
* a partnership between the festival and the Bristol Children's Hospital charity
* a forum for international goodwill and showcasing the world's best in kiting
* a platform for breaking world kiting records, such as 'the largest kite to fly'
* an excuse for any member of the public to go out and fly their favorite kite as part of the festival
Keen to know some specifics? Here's some things that were planned for the 2007 festival...
* Wallace & Gromit drawing attention to a hospital charity in a special angel kite show
* large, spectacular sea-themed kites, including a 30 meter long multicolored manta ray
* kite surfers demonstrating their extreme sport in the sea
* traditional Japanese fighting kites engaged in aerial combat
* more extreme sports - traction kites pulling buggies and land boards
* kite-making workshops for children
* flying the world's biggest kite, the size of an Olympic swimming pool!
The Niagara Kite Festival
Besides being big, this kites festival is really quite unique. This has a lot to do with its geographical location. Not only does the festival overlook an enormous waterfall system, but it actually spans 2 countries, the U.S. and Canada!
This next list tries to summarize most of what took place over the 4 days that the 2007 Niagara Kite Festival ran...
* the flying of a very wide range of kites by hundreds of people
* a kite arch tethered to the U.S. on one end, and to Canada on the other
* a historical re-enactment of the first kite to cross the gorge
* large wind-driven works of art that were anchored to the ground
* international guests brought their kiting expertise
* demonstrations of kite-powered sports
* exhibitions of other kite-related activities
* a great variety of street entertainment, not all kite-related
* thousands of spectators, both locals and from around the world
The hundreds of fliers during the festival included many who registered themselves for the chance to fly their own kites off the Niagara escarpment. Not an opportunity that comes up every day! The allocated area was from the Rainbow Bridge to Terrapin Point on the US side and Table Rock on the Canadian side.
The range of kites flown, apart from the usual assortment of deltas and flow-form designs, included the following...
* works of art
* stunters, dual and quad-line
* indoor fliers
* fighters
* inflatables
* miniatures
* the simply huge!
A range of exhibitions were held. Topics included...
* kite history
* kite aerial photography
* miniature kites
* kite stamps
See how kites can appeal to all personalities, from extreme sports dudes to the quieter types you might find checking out those exhibitions!
Conclusion
This is just a taste of the experience of taking in an international kites festival. For more details on these 2 events, plus an account of my own family's outing to the Adelaide International Kite Festival, just visit the my-best-kite.com website. The Adelaide Festival page is illustrated with plenty of photos too.
If you want to see a large kites festival, there are quite a number to choose from. At any time of the year it's not long before a major kite flying festival gets underway somewhere on the planet. In this short article I will introduce you to 2 big kite festivals that are held every year.
The Bristol Kite Festival
This English event is officially known as The Bristol International Festival of Kites and Air Creations. It's been running since the mid eighties, and it's probably the largest and most well known such festival in the Western world.
The following list is a general summary of what the kites festival at Bristol is all about.
* 2 days of non-stop wind-driven flying, art and culture, both air-based and ground-based
* a partnership between the festival and the Bristol Children's Hospital charity
* a forum for international goodwill and showcasing the world's best in kiting
* a platform for breaking world kiting records, such as 'the largest kite to fly'
* an excuse for any member of the public to go out and fly their favorite kite as part of the festival
Keen to know some specifics? Here's some things that were planned for the 2007 festival...
* Wallace & Gromit drawing attention to a hospital charity in a special angel kite show
* large, spectacular sea-themed kites, including a 30 meter long multicolored manta ray
* kite surfers demonstrating their extreme sport in the sea
* traditional Japanese fighting kites engaged in aerial combat
* more extreme sports - traction kites pulling buggies and land boards
* kite-making workshops for children
* flying the world's biggest kite, the size of an Olympic swimming pool!
The Niagara Kite Festival
Besides being big, this kites festival is really quite unique. This has a lot to do with its geographical location. Not only does the festival overlook an enormous waterfall system, but it actually spans 2 countries, the U.S. and Canada!
This next list tries to summarize most of what took place over the 4 days that the 2007 Niagara Kite Festival ran...
* the flying of a very wide range of kites by hundreds of people
* a kite arch tethered to the U.S. on one end, and to Canada on the other
* a historical re-enactment of the first kite to cross the gorge
* large wind-driven works of art that were anchored to the ground
* international guests brought their kiting expertise
* demonstrations of kite-powered sports
* exhibitions of other kite-related activities
* a great variety of street entertainment, not all kite-related
* thousands of spectators, both locals and from around the world
The hundreds of fliers during the festival included many who registered themselves for the chance to fly their own kites off the Niagara escarpment. Not an opportunity that comes up every day! The allocated area was from the Rainbow Bridge to Terrapin Point on the US side and Table Rock on the Canadian side.
The range of kites flown, apart from the usual assortment of deltas and flow-form designs, included the following...
* works of art
* stunters, dual and quad-line
* indoor fliers
* fighters
* inflatables
* miniatures
* the simply huge!
A range of exhibitions were held. Topics included...
* kite history
* kite aerial photography
* miniature kites
* kite stamps
See how kites can appeal to all personalities, from extreme sports dudes to the quieter types you might find checking out those exhibitions!
Conclusion
This is just a taste of the experience of taking in an international kites festival. For more details on these 2 events, plus an account of my own family's outing to the Adelaide International Kite Festival, just visit the my-best-kite.com website. The Adelaide Festival page is illustrated with plenty of photos too.
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