Blackheath Easter Kite Festival 2000

Sunday 23rd & Monday 24th April 2000

Sunday 23rd:

We arrived just after 10am, and things were already getting busy at Blackheath! The forecasted bad weather had stayed away the night before, so the ground was dry, which is always a bonus! There was a fair amount of light cloud, but little wind, unfortunate for the competitors in the dual line precision comp. It was definitely ultra-light kite time!

Towards midday, the wind picked up slightly (5-10 mph) and there were many different kites to be seen around the heath. Carl Robertshaw's creations seemed to be everywhere- you certainly couldn't miss his huge Flowform, dominating the skyline. Bob Cruikshanks occupied what should be called "Bob's Corner" (he's there every year!) with his "Mullinnium Dome" kite - a scale replica of the more famous Millennium Dome situated just a couple of miles away in Greenwich - which unfortunately does not fly yet, but was certainly worth seeing! Bob was, however, flying various inflatables and one-liners, which included a giant orange Octopus and an orange frog (see photos).

Many traders were in attendance, including Dunstable Kites, Sky Kites, Sky Bums, The Highwaymen, Force Nine, Chalkies, Kites and Things, Rangs Boomerangs, Mac's Fighter Kites, a burger van, and various ice-cream vans (only one of which was licensed to turn up at the event) which started the "Ice Cream Wars"!! The air turned blue!

Many more kite fliers and "general public" turned up during the day, and the traders seemed to be kept busy. Peter Mirkovic of Sky Kites, who organised the event, had an impressive line-up of buggies on display.

Towards 5pm the sky started to cloud over and turn dark and in the distance rain was visible. The odd flash of lightning could also be seen, and we thought that would be good time to leave...

Sunday's Photos: Click on any image to see a larger version.

Bob Cruikshanks and his amazing Dome
Carl Robertshaw	Trick flying by Wink and the boys	Roy Reed
	Gary "Big Boy" Tyrell	Wink relaxes.
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Carl Robertshaw loitering with-in tent.	Carl & Matrix	Just how many kites do the Robertshaws need?...
Customised Revolution	Andy Smith's Libre kites	Bob's big Orangipus
Mark Kingshott & "Mad" John Eaton...	...share some stories with Peter Mirkovic...	Mark's super-cool Libre buggy
Peter Lynn buggy (with suspension!)	Mark Kingshott and big orange Predator	Bob's prototype mini-Dome
Revolution kite	Spectrum Kite Display Team	4.9m and 2.6m NasaWings
Carl Robertshaw's giant airform	John Eaton with his beautiful kite!	Bird kite
Colourful one-liners	Norman Monk with a large grey shark
How cute! A dog on a pole!	Revolution display by The Flying Squad

Go to the Monday 24th April review