Saturday, January 8, 2011

Better late than never - Bedford Kite Festival 6th June 2010

Ok so this day was a toss up between a few festivals. Having gone to the Ashdon festival last we decided to give the small tree locked and cow poo strewn field a miss tis year and go to Bedford instead.

This choice was mainly based on the list of international fliers that would be there, specifically some fliers from Bali, which, as already noted in my own pages on the web site, i would not be able to pass up.

A relatively straight forward journey brought us to Bedford although the weather was murky with very light winds. We found free parking just next to the kite field and a short stroll brought us to the display arena.

Nice to hear George Webster's dulcit tones doing the commentary and he frequently pointed out to the crowd that this field is not ideal for kites, especially in low winds due to being... tree locked!  well.. at least there was no cow poo!

The format for the festival is different from many of the other large popular events. This was based around a constantly changing assortment of kites being flown in all parts of the arena with informative commentary and history through out. There were a few "slots" but nothing like the more rigid displays held elsewhere.

The weather remained a bit iffy throughout the day and the winds light. So much so that a large inflatable ended up being dragged behind a small Toyota from one of the sponsors in an effort to get it airborne.

On the whole we really enjoyed the day despite the low winds as there was plenty of stuff in the air with plenty of it being, new to us. The obilgatory craft tent was actually rather good with a couple of exhibitors doing glass work in front of the crowds. One was making some very nice beads and the other all sorts of glass animals.

Pictures are up in the June 2010 Gallery on the main site so go have a gander 

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