Dunstable Downs Kite Festival
Sunday 28th July 2002
Location: Dunstable Downs, Dunstable, Bedfordshire
Organised by: Dunstable
Kites
A fantastic hot and sunny day, yet again, 30 degrees C and
the hottest day of the year so far - for the 'umpteenth' Dunstable Downs
kite festival (even the organisers can't remember how many years it has
been running). Many hundreds of people turned up to watch the expert kite
flyers do their thing.
Hot sunshine and light winds meant that at times it was
difficult to keep the show going, however there always seemed to be someone
on hand to do a demonstration. Andrew
Beattie spent most of the day running around trying to keep his Gecko,
Octopus and Manta Ray in the air, while The
Flying Squad flew their dual and quad line kites throughout the day,
to the enjoyment of the crowds. We even managed to get a bit of flying
done ourselves, with a Revolution, Matrix
and Raymond.
The Brighton Kite Flyers, Great Ouse Kite Flyers and even
some members of the Northern Kite Group came to Dunstable to fly in the
sunshine. Also present was Stafford Wallace who demonstrated his Indian
fighter kite skills, giving the children an opportunity to acquire the
delicate kites that tumbled from the sky after being cut free.
The Spectrum Kite Display Team flew demos throughout the
day, including a demonstration of multiple kite flying (i.e. flying two
or more dual line kites at the same time). Bryan Cantle (aka Darkstar)
flew three kites at once, in an amazing routine which the crowds loved.
Carl and James Robertshaw took to the skies with their individual ballet
routines, then picked up their 4.9m Blades and had some fun jumping around
in the arena.
Read Andrew Beattie's
account of the festival here.
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| Genki kite |
Colourful banners of the Spectrum kite display team |
A busy day for Dunstable Kites |
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| Andrew Beattie launches his Gecko |
David Davies' Skydancer |
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| Spectrum flying with long tails |
Circoflex |
Mega-team flying |
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| The Flying Squad |
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| Delta kites |
Oostend Bird |
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| Stacks of stacks: The Flying Squad's Revolutions,
ten 6 foot rainbow Flexifoils, and 21 diamond kites |
Links:
Andrew Beattie's report
of the festival.
Andrew Beattie's website tug.com
Dunstable
Kites
The Flying
Squad
Brighton
Kite Flyers
Read our Festival Report from
2001.
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