Sunderland International Kite Festival

Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th July 2001
(Page 1 of 3)

Location: Northern Area Playing Fields, Washington, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear.
Organised by: Malcolm Goodman.

The Sunderland International Kite Festival is the biggest kite festival in the UK. It is certainly the best organised event we have ever seen.

A varied programme of displays and demonstrations ran throughout both days, including Rokkaku fights, dragon kite displays, teddy bear drops, kite buggying, Japanese kites, altitude sprints, mass kite fly-ins and much more!

Saturday was a fairly dry day with plenty of wind. Sunday started rainy with a light wind, but the rain cleared away and the wind picked up after midday.

Thousands of kite fliers and public attended the event. Three large marquees provided food and warmth for those sheltering from the weather conditions! There were plenty of kite traders, food vans and even a children's village with a huge bouncy castle!

Lots of international kite fliers were present, including fliers from France, Germany, Holland, Italy, USA, Japan, China, India, and more..

There were so many things to see that we have three pages of photographs from both Saturday and Sunday!

Page 1: Rokkaku Kite Fights | Kite Trains | Dragon Kites | Inflatable Single Line Kites
Page 2: Other Single Line Kites | Power Kiting | Friendship Kite | Ray Bethell & Carl Robertshaw
Page 3: European Air Gallery | The Flying Squad | Miscellaneous Corner

Video Highlights

Running time: 35 seconds

Rokkaku Kite Fights

The Rokkaku fights always provide great entertainment for the crowds, this was no exception. There were some beautiful appliqued kites in the air, and much energy and enthusiasm on show from the kite fliers.

Kite Trains

This huge train of kites weaved its way hundreds of feet into the sky - can you see to the end of the line?

Dragon Kites

One of the highlights of the weekend was watching the hundred metre long Dragon kites being launched. Each kite had hundreds of 'cells' and required a number of helpers to launch it.

Video Highlights (Dragon Kites)

Running time: 31 seconds

Inflatable Single Line Kites

The inflatable single line kites are always popular at kite festivals, and here you can see a diverse array of inflatables, including some Rolf Zimmerman and Peter Lynn designs: "Tweetie Pie", a diver, a chicken, octopus, shark, snake, teddy bear, and more...

More pictures on Page 2 & Page 3