Sunderland International Kite Festival
Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th July 2003
Location: Northern Area Playing Fields, Washington, Tyne
& Wear
Organised by: Malcolm
Goodman
Once again, the Sunderland International Kite Festival was
a busy event. A dull and drizzly sky, and light winds on Saturday didn't
dampen the enthusiasm of the hundreds of kite fliers who attended the
event, including many from overseas. Sunday was a much better day with
blue sky peeking out behind the clouds, and a decent amount of wind for
most of the day.
There was a packed programme of events, demonstrations and
competitions, such as the Altitude Sprint and Rokkaku Fights each day.
Groups of performers roamed the site, providing dance, music and entertainment
- one of the funniest sights being the (human) camel that I wish I'd got
a picture of!
It was a great event for meeting old friends and making
new ones, as the invited kite fliers from all around the world were sharing
the same hotel, on the outskirts of Washington. After the Kite Fliers
buffet on Friday night, we realised that kite-flying and beer drinking
go hand-in-hand, no matter from where in the world you come from...
Saturday night's auction raised an incredible £5000
which will go towards some of the costs for next year's festival. One
of our highlights of the event was seeing our Kites 2002 DVD being projected
onto the ceiling of the marquee, above the auctioneers. It attracted a
lot of attention. Too much though, as people were not paying as much attention
to the auction taking place! So after half an hour, it was decided to
switch it off! However, on one occasion when I pointed at the screen,
I inadvertently placed a bid, so perhaps it was just as well!
Here are the photos from Saturday and Sunday:
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| Hand-drawn Rokkaku |
Rolf Zimmermann's Owl and Starfish |
A game of Kite-Basket |
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| Michael Alvares from Australia |
Beautiful appliqued Genki kite |
Thijo van Beek from Holland |
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| Mikio Toki demonstrating a traditional Japanese Edo
kite, with a hummer attached |
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| Three very different Genki-style kites |
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| Lots of Chinese dragon kites flying at Sunderland |
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| Karl Longbottom flying his Chinese dragon kite |
Kite train that touched the clouds! |
Power kiting demonstration by Powerkiteshop
& the British
Buggy Club |
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| Two Owls: what a hoot |
Inflatable Bertie Bassett kite and a large Bol |
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| Large purple Genki |
Rotating hexagonal kite |
Underside of a Gecko |
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| A busy Sunderland scene |
The Friendship Kite takes to the sky |
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| A few of the Edo kites belonging to the European Air
Gallery |
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| Carl Robertshaw Delta Serpents |
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| Carl Robertshaw and Dave Nicholls |
Rolf from Austria, looking happy |
But it's all so exhausting... |
Video:
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The
New Flying Squad Routine: Running time: 24 seconds. |
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MPEG-1 (1.5 MB) - flying-squad.mpg
Save to your computer and view anytime (right click - 'save
as'' )
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Links:
Dazzz's Sunderland
Photos
Malcolm Goodman's
comprehensive collection of kites from around the world.
City
of Sunderland Kite Festival page.
Carl Robertshaw's Kitestudio.com
Sunderland International Kite Festival
Report 2002
Sunderland International Kite Festival
Report 2001 - Page 1
Sunderland International Kite Festival
Report 2001 - Page 2
Sunderland International Kite Festival
Report 2001 - Page 3
Red
Baron Kite Team
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