TimA, Jezz and
families visited the annual Hunstanton Kite Festival, which this year
was held on 15th August and set in the playing fields of a
school. Much like the Royston festival, Hunstanton is a
family-orientated affair with a central arena surrounded by the usual
collection of trade stands (notably Windseekers), charity fund-raising
stalls and bouncy castles. As a bonus there was also an on-site classic
car show.
We didn’t stay long
enough to see all the arena demonstrations, but we did see some
excellent synchronised team stunt-kite flying, a man-lift and the
impressive feat of one person flying two kites in formation
simultaneously.
We didn’t take part
in the controlled chaos of the ‘make your own kite’ stall, but Josh and
Lydia took part in the sack race and received a free kite for their
efforts from one of the sponsors. However I think the kids enjoyed the
‘funny bikes’ stand the most – a guy who makes weird bicycles for you to
try, along with stilts, plate-spinning and juggling.
Unlike Royston
festival this year there was actually some wind at Hunstanton, although
again unlike Royston you don’t get that much space to fly your own kites
and there certainly wasn’t enough room for traction activities. However
they do have one obvious and fairly major advantage – the presence of a
number of large beaches a few minutes away. So inevitably after an hour
or so we hastily repaired to one of these to make the most of the rest
of the afternoon with some serious flying before the tide came in.
So
if you like the Royston kite festival I think you’ll enjoy the
Hunstanton one, it’s well worth a visit, especially given the location.
All credit to the organisers whom I’m sure raised a large amount of
money for charity.