A colourful display at Portsmouth International Kite Festival (Photo: The Kite Society)
When: 11th & 12th August 2018, 10.30am – 5.30pm
Where: Southsea Common, Southsea, Hampshire
£: Free
What is it?
This year’s Portsmouth International Kite Festival will take place on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th August, on Southsea Common.
It will be the 27th year the event has taken place and this year’s theme is ‘Kites and Art’. The festival hopes to have kites and kite fliers attending from across the globe.
The festival is free to attend and will have demonstrations of the art of kite flying, and kite making reflecting the tradition of kites around the world, with many kites in the sky and on the ground for visitors to enjoy.
Kites will include single line kites which are intricately appliquéd or painted with designs, cellular kites, and 3D soft kites in a range of shapes and sizes. Visitors will be able to watch the kite flyers performing tricks and routines to music.
Head to Southsea Common and watch the displays (Photo: The Kite Society)
The festival will kick off with the altitude sprint, where fliers will race against one another to get their kites highest in the sky. This will be followed by a kite ballet routine to music, and a display of artistic kites from around the world. Kite teams will then perform synchronised displays to music.
In the afternoon there will be a mass launch of kites, Japanese traditional kites, sports and competitive kites, a sweet drop (where sweets are dropped from a kite for children to catch), Japanese fighting kites, and teams flying multi-line kites.
Other entertainment during the festival will include specialist kite traders, food traders, craft stalls, and children’s entertainment. A free children’s kite workshop will also be taking place with the people from WORLD smallest KITE.
Portsmouth Kite Festival is organised by Portsmouth City Council and The Kite Society of Great Britain.
More info: www.portsmouthkitefestival.org.uk