Dieppe Kite Festival 2014 – France

The Dieppe Kite Festival is LEGEN – wait for it – DARY!

The Flying Squad have been visitors to the festival for a number of years and look forward to returning with eager anticipation.  This year was no different.  The festival is on an epic scale and too big to cover all of it here so we will just tell you about the sport kite flying at the the Chateau end of the field.

Dieppe Kite Festival 2014 Continue reading

Rencontres Internationales de Cerfs-Volants de Berck-sur-Mer (R.I.C.V.) 2014

RICV-Berck-2014-crowds

Well that was the week that was!  And what a week.

Berck has become an annual pilgrimage for “The Squad” with this year being our 14th visit to the festival.   Arriving at the Office du Tourisme is the start of another year’s adventure.  The ever efficient organising team are always smiling and helpful, no matter how bad the French we use!

This year the festival was host to The World Sport Kite Championships, so along with the usual array of spectacular single line kites, we were treated to displays by the best sport kite teams in the world.

The beginning of the week saw fabulous weather with clean smooth winds blowing in off the sea.  We flew our ballets in the sunshine and clean winds and had a real blast.

11am every morning saw us on the beach behind the arena practicing for the Rev mega team each afternoon.  This year we were joined by teams FLIC, Loustik, Now’Air, Decorators and Air4ce and fliers from France, Germany, Russia, Belgium and USA.

Things started out normally with threads, and bursts and contra rotating circles.  After that we kinda got carried away.  From the esplanade the spectators were treated to giant cars, bicycles, The Eiffel Tower and Bob & Gianette – giant stick characters constructed from Revs.  We really were having too much fun!

So, many thanks to all you mad, crazy, creative and trusting Rev fliers out there who helped us make such wonderful shapes in the sky and such great memories in our hearts.

 

 

 

27e Rencontres Internationales de Cerfs-Volants de Berck-sur-Mer (R.I.C.V.)

The first festival of the season for The Flying Squad, RICV Berck is one of the biggest kite events you will see.  Whether you count the size of the flying space, the number of spectators, the number of invited guests or the different kinds of kites flying, RICV Berck is big. This year’s festival was no exception.

During this 10 day event we enjoyed the best of winds and the worst of winds.  Every kite combination came out of the bag and quite often all one day!  To the credit of Revolution Kites and the teams that fly them, no matter what the weather threw at us, the show went on.

There is not enough space to write a detailed report of the festival but for The Flying Squad this event was memorable for the three things.  The smooth clean winds that made the routines so easy to fly, the Rev Mega Team and of course the return of our good friends Team FLIC.

The Mega Teams, both dual and quad line are an important part of the daily kite show and this year the Rev Mega team got creative.  The sound of 30 grown men and women making car noises as a giant 2CV made out of kites flies across the sky is something we will never forget!

So, if you’re planning the schedule for next year and you have not yet been to Berck, do yourself a favour and add it to the list.

Take a look at some of these reports of the event.

The Official Web site of the Festival

Design Kites from Holland’s report

Team Air4ce from Holland

Team AirNergy from Singapore

Dunstable Downs International Kite Festival 2012

The 14th & 15th July saw the first ever two day kite festival at the National Trust’s Dunstable Downs site.  Saturday was wet with very light winds but Sunday was bright andsunny with lots of wind.  We flew lots of routines and made a lot of noise with 6 North Shore Radicals!

This year The Flying Squad were delighted to be able to host Belgian kite designer Jos Valcke and his wonderful kites at the festival.  Jos’s kites added a real splash of colour and an international flavour to our favourite flying site.  Joined on Sunday by Sebastian Jüttemeier the sky was filled to bursting.

See our pictures here.

Basingstoke International Kite Festival 2012

Basingstoke International Kite Festival What a great weekend we had at this years festival!   A very English affair, this event has been described by some of the international guests as a perfect English Garden Party with kites.

Saturday had the best of the weather with great displays by all the kite fliers.  Basingstoke Kite Festival manages to have a great family feel with all the invited guests working as one team to create a great show.

This year was no exception with all the fliers helping each other meaning the sky was never empty.  We were delighted to get the opportunity to fly the Sode kites by Janneke Groen; Kelvin Woods’ butterflies and Nick James’ beautiful angels.

Kites Up Banners

The weather on Sunday was a little more challenging with very light winds in the more and the odd rain shower in the after noon.  We managed to be the ones out flying when the rain came down in buckets.  Still, we managed to keep the commentary team entertained even if everyone else had run for cover!

Can’t wait until next years event.  Many thanks to the Loddon Valley Kite Fliers for their hard work in creating such a great event.

Oostende International Kite Festival 2012

Oostende International Kite FestivalWe have just got back from a fabulous weekend in Belgium at the Oostende International Kite Festival.

This beach festival is a great way to see some of the best kites and teams from across Europe. Boasting a guest list that most festivals would die for, there is always something to look at and this year was no exception.

Oostende International Kite FestivalWith the addition of Steff Ferme to our ranks and with Daniel (aged 9) flying as well we were able to fly 8 person routines as well as our fully choreographed ballets.

We had a great time and can’t wait to go back again next year.  Thanks to all those involved who made this possible.

Berck Sur Mer 2012

Berck sur Mer Kite Festival Banner

It’s finally here!  The first festival of the kite season is upon us and boy what a way to start.

The Flying Squad - Revolution stacks.

Berck is probably the largest kite festival in the world, whether you go by number of spectators, kite fliers or countries represented and is something of a kiting Mecca.  The Squad have been flying at this festival since our beginings back in 1999 and something that we really look forward to.

This year the event is also hosting the dual line sport kite World Championships. With 15 of the top teams from around the world it should be a great show.  Fingers crossed for another British win by the legendary Scratch Bunnies.

The Scratch Bunnies - World Champions 2010

Look out for photos of the event when we get back, but with ten days of solid kite flying, it might be a few days until we have recovered enough to upload the images!

(posted 05/04/2012)

The Flying Squad launch their new website

We have had a great off-season with some fun flying days, but the cold days and long nights have meant that we have had time to up date our website.

So, here is the new site.  We will update the site every now and then with updates on the year and maybe the odd report on some of the wonderful festivals we go to.

If you have any photos of us at an event and don’t mind sharing it then please email them in and we will add them to the gallery.

See you all soon.The Flying Squad Kite Display Team