A new flying field, a new festival! So many kite festivals have fallen by the wayside in recent years, so it was great to see a new one appearing on the calendar. As soon as I became aware of it, I offered the participation of Flying Fish and L-katz, if they wanted sport kite displays in the arena. They sure did ...
So off to Dorchester we went, and set up our base, with all banners, on the Great Field in Poundbury, Dorchester.
The main arena was situated on a cricket pitch; first time we'd fly in a fully circular arena!
We started each of our slots with a demonstration of how to fly a sport kite and the basics of team-flying, with me commentating. First Irma flying a kite on her own: How do you launch a sport kite? How do you fly basic shapes? Then Pea joining Irma, demonstrating the basics of team-flying (infinities, synchronised figures). And then, given that I was using a hands-free head-set microphone, me joining them for some more team-flying, calling moves and flying at the same time.
... and a team ballet from L-katz.
Although the weather was gorgeous, the wind was very variable through the day, which was challenging. For the last of the three team ballets I wanted to give the public just a bit more and gambled on flying with tails. Unfortunately, the wind switched off halfway through, and tails got tangled .... Wrong call in hindsight, but at least the public saw team-flying with tails (and I heard some applause behind me as we took off in a starburst launch).
In-between our sport kite slots, we also participated in 'trilobite' and 'marine creatures' slots.
This new Dorchester Kite Festival was a one-day event. Loads of people attended, and I sincerely hope that the success of this one day was enough to put Dorchester firmly on the agenda next year, and (fingers crossed) for a full two days.
Picture credit of us flying: Dorsetbays
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