Burnham-On-Sea’s fourth annual Kite Festival is set to take off on Saturday September 9th and Sunday September 10th.
The free event will see demonstrations and displays on both days from 11am to 5.30pm, along with a chance for families to fly their kites with the help of experts.
The event will be opened at 11am by Harry Parkin, owner of Burnham Pavilion, which is sponsoring the weekend.
A huge whale and sharks will initially be circling around in the skies as part of the Sky Ocean Rescue Campaign.
At 2.30pm there will be a ‘Height Sprint’, open to anyone with a kite which will be a competition to see who can get their kite the highest in two minutes flat!
Later there will be an invasion by huge octopi and other displays, including power kiting. An illuminated kite display will take place around 8pm by the Pavilion.
Sunday will see the arrival of ‘trilobites’, which are brand new kites from the USA that move in an unusual way, along with some other ‘flying sci-fi beings’ from another world.
There will also be a design and fly competition for anyone who has made their own kite, with prizes on offer. Other displays will include turbines (circular turning kites) and a stack flying session plus power kites.
Organiser Gaynor Brown told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “This is the fourth festival and it is fast becoming a rival for Exmouth as the major kiting event in the region.”
“There will be four areas covering the main beach – a games and play area with equipment for fairground games; a fly-your-own-kite area where you can bring your own kite and join in the fun; a learn-to-fly area where visitors can come and try the sport with one of our easy-to-fly kites; and a club kiters area which will be full of kiters launching a huge variety of colours and shapes of kites.”
She added: “In addition there will be members of the Giant Kite Club which last year you could see from South Wales!”
“There will also be kite traders by the Bay View Cafe where you can buy a kite and stalls with games and crafts.”
“From 11am to 5.30pm the sky will be full of kites and inflated monsters. And on Saturday at 8pm round the Pavilion there will be an illuminated kite display or a chance to launch a lantern into the sky.”
“It’s a fantastic hobby and very cheap and easy to get involved, so come along and try one and go from there.”
Also see:
What’s on in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge
