Bristol International Kite Festival

Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd September 2000

The 15th annual Bristol International Kite Festival attracted kite fliers from around the world to Ashton Court, a large country park on the outskirts of Bristol, for a spectacular event full of colour and excitement.

The good planning and organisation of the event paid off as many public and kite fliers attended. Even the changeable British weather didn't dampen the spirits - Saturday was a beautiful, mostly sunny day with brief showers later on in the afternoon. The wind blew a good 10-15mph most of the time, dropping towards mid afternoon but picking up again later.

This year was the first time we have ever attended the Bristol Kite Festival, but it certainly won't be the last! The event has the best range of catering, kite traders, stalls, craft fayre, entertainment (and even posh portaloos!) that we have ever seen at a kite festival. Credit must go to Avril Baker and the Avon Kite Fliers for the organisation of this festival - a very enjoyable day out!

All the photographs here were taken on Saturday 2nd, there were so many things to see that this report covers two pages, click on the Next button at the bottom of the page to see the rest of the report.

Banners

A beautiful array of banners were on show from the traders, kite flying groups, teams and clubs. They provided a colourful backdrop to the proceedings, as well as assisting in determining wind speed and direction!

Cody Kites

Bristol 2000 saw the maiden launch of a huge purple Cody kite built by Dave Mullins for Wayne McCoy, pictured below. Just compare the size of a "normal" Cody kite to this one! The spars are made of aluminium tubing, the wing span is 8 metres and it requires a hefty reel and ground stakes to be able to launch and fly it (as well as plenty of helpers!).

Paul Cody, the great-grandson of Samuel Cody, was at Bristol and watched the launch (being interviewed by Paul Reynolds, see below). A truly impressive sight, the kite flew very well despite the low winds.

Rokakku Kites

A kite festival would not be the same without the spectacle and entertainment of a Rokkaku fight. At Bristol on Saturday there were two Rokkaku fights, the one pictured had 28 kites fighting in the sky. The fights are lots of fun to watch, particularly when the competitors are running rings around each other, in the attempt to cut their opponents lines. Some of the Rokkaku kites were highly decorated, others more simple, but the sight of so many in the sky at once was very impressive.

Fun and Games

The Sundowners Team from San Francisco demonstrated their kiting skills by flying four stacks of 12 kites, in formation to music. Each kite had a long tail, which created a spectacular effect as the tails streamed through the sky. Watching this fantastic demonstration was one of the highlights of the day.

The Decorators showed off their quad line skills in the arena, and later on at the beer tent (you'll have to see Page 2 of the report for that!).

Single line and artistic kites

There were hundreds of kites in the sky throughout the day, many of them single line kites which were enjoyable to watch as they flew high above.

The artistic kites pictured in the centre bottom photograph are from the European Air Gallery and feature a number of unique designs, painted onto the ripstop nylon. These kites fly well and it is a pleasure to see them in the air.

The report of Bristol 2000 is continued on Page 2!