Dunstable Kite Festival

Sunday 29th July 2001

Location: The Downs, Dunstable, Beds.
Organised by: Dunstable Kites

There could not have been a much better day for the Dunstable Kite Festival 2001! The sun shone all day, and at 30 degrees C it was probably the hottest day of the year so far. The wind blew between 7-15mph throughout the day, so the sky was awash with colourful kites of many different shapes and sizes.

Flying displays were provided in the main arena, featuring amongst others, Stafford Wallace and his Indian Fighter Kites, The Flying Squad (with five members this time) with their Revolution kites and stacks of two-line deltas, Evolver (Carl & James Robertshaw), Bitter & Twisted (Kathy & Phil Jarvis) and Team Echo. Not forgetting of course Gary Tyrrell and his buggying display, followed by a display of how to fall off a mountainboard...

Towards the far side of the site, the large Delta Serpents of Carl Robertshaw flew high above the skyline, accompanied by Andrew Beattie's flying assortment of creatures: Veronica the octopus, Anuj the Gecko and Ben the Manta Ray.

The kite festival was very busy with many hundreds of people attending, mostly families. The kite workshop was very popular - it ran out of kite-making materials by mid-afternoon!

The festival had a wide range of kites being flown, and many invited flyers who amazed the crowds with their displays. What a pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Click on any photograph to see a larger version.