Westward Ho! Festival Of Kites

Sunday 19th May was a special day for Westward Ho!, it was the FIRST Festival Of Kites held here. Mother Nature really helped out with the conditions as it was beautiful for kite flying, warm, steady 10-15mph NW winds with bright sunshine all day...Westward Ho! just provided with it's massive sandy beach and big wide open spaces.

We had all aspects of kites covered here...There were the large kites being flown, dragons, fish, sharks, trilobites, frogs to name but a few! There was even a wind powered bubble machine that the kids loved. The stunt kite flyers were here, this was very impressive to watch as no one had a clue how many tricks could be performed with a stunt kite. Revolution kites with their precision and skill, landboarders with some very impressive tricks being done in the arena, buggys using the wind to effortlessly glide up and down the beach and kitesurfers using the water later too. Westward Ho! beach was alive, it was a beautiful sight.

Not only did we have a beach full on wonderful kites but we also had live music from the Prom stage to keep everyone entertained. Up playing throughout the day was The Cal White Duo, Shannon Lewis, Cherry Circus and Lettie and the Bean. The spirit on the stage was as magical as the kites! Several of the performers joining each other on stage for different songs and just having a right laugh. This is what any festival in Westward Ho! should be about....Lots of FUN.

The Kite Lessons zone was run by 514 Elemental Kite Sports school also from Westward Ho! They had a friendly team in the area helping members of the public get small power kites in their hands, learning how to fly a kite. This worked so well as you could see kites flying, get inspired then go and have a go...Over 90 people learnt to fly a kite while attending the festival! 514 Elemental also did a Kitesurfing demo at the end as the tide had almost pushed us off the beach, the crowd loved it and the skills they were watching.