We went along to the Brighton Kite Festival for the first time this year and loved it! It was definitely the highlight of Kalyan's year - he adores all flying things and was yelling constantly about the "flags" - "Look!" "Look!" He didn't have enough arms to point in all directions, it was so funny! We actually had a great time too, helped by the fact it was a gorgeous day.
After we first arrived and had a quick look around, it was time for lunch as we'd arrived later than planned. We managed to find a little bit of shade under a tree and settled down with our blankets and picnic (mostly treats from Waitrose). It was lovely and Kalyan continued to point and exclaim excitedly at the kites we could see from there. Priya enjoyed sitting on Daddy's lap teasing him with her lunch and giving him kisses, so cute! (Also how gorgeous is Priya's playsuit?! An impulse buy in Peacocks after I saw a little girl wearing it in Waitrose and her Dad told me where it was from!)
After lunch we ventured over to the big arena to watch the pros try to get some giant octopuses airborne. Although it was a lovely day, there wasn't quite enough wind to make for easy kite flying as we soon discovered for ourselves when we invested in some cheap kites for the twins to try. They managed to get them all up in the end, it was pretty amazing!
As for our own kite flying skills, we bought a couple of rainbow octopus kites for £6.50 each and had a go with the kids. We were pleasantly surprised how easily we managed to get them up in the sky when a gust of wind did come along though and the kids were squealing with delight as they held onto the end of the string. I was impressed how easy it was for 2-year-olds to master, Priya even got hers back up herself when it had crashed after the wind dropped.
There were so many amazing big kites like the blue whale, batman and a giant penguin amongst all of the other kites being flown by proper kite enthusiasts and novices like us. They also had a funfair and food stalls but since we had our picnic we didn't head over there. We had enough to keep us entertained just sitting watching all the kites and attempting to fly our own but there were also kite making workshops for kids and a falconer with owls and birds of prey as well as a few tents selling kites and flags. It was such a colourful day!
The Festival is free to enter but they do ask for a donation towards car parking to help keep the festival running. It must take a lot of work as it seemed very well organised with car-parking stewards helping direct traffic as it was so busy. We had a short walk through a field to the main kite area which was bustling. We had an absolute blast and can't wait to go back next year!
Nik made a short video of our day too:
1 comment:
So pleased that the twins enjoyed their little octopus kites, they are very popular and they do fly well. It is lovely reading an article such as yours and reading about the children having fun. It is part of what kiting is all about and we love to hear of it.
Tony Dane (GoKites)
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