We have just got back from a fantastic weekend at the St Annes Kite Festival 2024. We arrived on the Friday afternoon, it was good weather and there were a lot of kites in the sky. But at 6.00pm whilst Pete and I were eating our fish & chips on the pier the wind started to drop which didn’t bode well for the night fly. However, at 7.00pm we went back to the arena and there was a little wind but was it enough? The 12m lifter climbed a little and stalled, it hung there but with a little gently pumping we managed to get it higher and to our surprise the wind began to increase until we had a reasonable 10mph wind from the south west. Time to get the LED kites out and light up the sky. Wow what a show was put on by all the kiters it was absolutely amazing and the best night fly that we have ever done.
Saturday saw us back on the beach with a gusty 15mph westerly. Initially it was a little overcast but by lunch time the sun had come out. Pete and I managed to put on a great display with a Fauchi, Pooh Bear and the Leopard under the Stinga Manta Ray with loads of the Ladybirds underneath. Pete had brought along a large selection of micro kites. It all looked great.
Around us the arenas were full of other wonderful kites flown by members of other UK kite clubs as well as some international kite flyers from France, Holland and beyond. The skies were full of them in all shapes and colours, it all looked amazing. There were beautiful colourful banners in all shapes and sizes fluttering in the fleshing wind. All of this watched on by a very appreciative public and it was great chatting to them about the kites and how wonderful they thought it all looked. It was a fantastic days flying.
Sadly, the rains came on the Sunday and the flying had to be cancelled which was a shame.
Many thanks to Craig and Soozie and everyone at Smilefactor 10 for putting on the best kite festival in the UK! Here are some pictures from the weekend. There are some more photos on our photo gallery.
