Bristol International Kite Festival
Saturday 31st August & Sunday 1st September 2002
Page 1: Jan Houtermans | John
Huxtable | The Decorators | Aerial
Photographs
Page 2: | Martin
Lester | Peter Lynn | Artistic
Kites | Links
Location: Ashton Court, Bristol.
Organised by: Avril
Baker / Avon Kite Flyers
The 16th Bristol International Kite Festival 2002 was back, bigger and
better than before! Thousands of people flocked to Ashton Court, a large
area of open parkland, to watch the fantastic demonstrations and to see
the many unusual and distinctive kites on show.
Many hundreds of kite fliers attended from across the UK, Europe and
around the world, including Peter Lynn
(New Zealand), Janneke Groen (Holland), Bill Farber (Australia), Jan
Houtermans (Austria), Robert Valkenburgh (Holland), Dodd Gross (USA),
Don Mock (USA) and Collectif Zoone (France). From the UK we saw Team Flame,
Carl & James Robertshaw, The Decorators, Martin
Lester, Andrew Beattie, Nick James, Anne Harris, Stafford Wallace,
Paul Chapman, Wigsley Wings, Mike Shaw, Andy Wardley, Chris Goff and Robin
Smith amongst others...
As always, there were plenty of kite traders and food stalls, childrens'
entertainment (including stilt walkers and inflatable slides), a kite
making workshop and much more. There was so much to see and do for kite
flyers and general public alike.
Both Saturday and Sunday had beautiful weather with hot sunshine and
fairly light winds. The wind on Saturday was better than Sunday, although
Sunday presented sunnier skies.
The traditional banquet and auction was held on Saturday night, followed
by a fireworks display and night flying. On Sunday morning we saw that
most of the kites from the previous night's auction were being flown -
obviously very proud owners!
The Kite of Hope was flown for the first time at Bristol 2002. Designed
by Carl Robertshaw, it is a white delta with a stunning 50 metre long
tail in the shape of a pink ribbon - the worldwide symbol of hope. This
was being flown to promote the work of Cancer Research UK, and members
of the public were encouraged to write messages of hope on its tail.
Another poignant moment came when the Avon Kite Flyers flew a tribute
to Carlos Luxa, who passed away earlier this year. We had known Carlos
too, and were touched by seeing his kite collection flown by the kite
group he contributed greatly to. He will be missed.
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| Kite fliers and public watching the marvellous displays |
Funky kite board from Grogz |
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| Anne Harris' Merlin and Fire giant inflatables |
Circoflex |
Jan Houtermans
Jan Houtermans from Vienna, Austria, brought some of his
unusual and colourful kites to Bristol 2002. One of the most intricate
and interesting kites was his 'Spinstar' - a single line, star shaped
kite with sections that rotate when the kite is flying. An unusual sight,
for sure!
Also attracting a lot of interest was his quad-lined Flying
Pig, which flew very well despite being a rather unorthodox shape! We
particularly liked his attention to detail, such as the legs and the expression!
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| Jan pictured with his 'Kapoot' kite |
Flying Pig |
Spinstar |
John Huxtable
John Huxtable and his family from Glastonbury only just
made it to Bristol 2002 as they had car problems earlier in the week.
But, with a hire car and a lot of determination, they made it! John was
very pleased that he had, as his Red Dragon and Dragonfly took first and
second place in the People's Choice competition on Saturday!
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| John flying his Red Dragon |
Dragonfly |
John receives his award from the sponsor, Linden
Homes |
The Decorators
The Decorators just kept flying the whole weekend! Seven
out of the usual eight-strong team were flying at Bristol 2002, joined
for some of the demonstrations by James Robertshaw. Their routines were
most impressive - even more so when you find out that they never practice
together, only getting together as a team at events like this. Their distinctive
customised Revolution kites were often to be found balancing on peoples'
heads, hovering over small children, or simply creating pretty patterns
in the sky.
Aerial Photographs
These photographs are courtesy and copyright of Paul
Burton.
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| Kite of Hope flying in the main arena |
Peter Lynn kites |
Go to Page 2 of the Bristol
2002 Report...
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