We are still liaising with various flyers and clubs as well as looking to share costs of some long distance flyers with Margate and/or Portsmouth.

But so far for starters we have interest from Phil McConnachie from Austrialia, Robert van Weers & Peter Lynn from New Zealand, Marco Casadio and Claudio &Caterina Cappelli from Italy, Gerard Clement from France and from Holland Ivo van Olmen, Jan van Leeuwink and Janneke Groen. Watch this space as there will be others so as the line up and programme gets firmed up this will be posted on the festival website (www.kite-festival.org.uk)

From the UK we also hope to welcome back many of the usual suspects. To name a few: Carl Robertshaw and the Scratch Bunnies, Andrew and Kathleen Beattie, Team Spectrum, Anne Harris (with her wonderful air creations) not to mention local talent of Nick James and Martin Lester.

A special feature this year will be celebrations of two important Bristol favourites – the 20^th anniversary of local club Avon Kite Flyers and the 21^st anniversary of Martin Lester’s iconic legs. There will be arena tributes to both and if you have any of Martin’s legs please bring them along as it would be great to see how many legs we can get in the air at any one time!!

Within the arena programme there will as usual be opportunities for kite societies and clubs to contribute to items such as artistic kites, themed slots such as festival of the sea and of course the usual Rok battles (no Kevlar please), both days, so do bring along your individual and team kites ready to enter.

Alongside the arenas there will be the usual line up of kite traders and Festival food and drink, a licensed bar, a range of air sculptures and inflatables and some children’s entertainments.

This year we are supporting Marie Curie Cancer Care which is a cause close to many people’s hearts. Their volunteers will be helping with the children’s workshops and as their logo is a daffodil we have an idea for a charity arena slot called Bristol in Bloom if you have any flower related kites!!

As has become a tradition at Bristol there will be the on site kite flyers’ Saturday evening party under cover in the large marquee with the usual excellent hot meal and bar which will be followed by the Festival auction. Afterwards there will hopefully be the usual wonderful fireworks and some night flying. If anyone can contribute to night flying we would love to hear from you.

After rave reviews of last year’s Indian feast meal we are again going with Spice up your Life. Tickets for the meal cover a choice of meat or vegetarian dishes and a desert. Prices have been pegged for the ninth year running at £10 per adult and £5 for a child (under 12 please!!).

Those not eating are more than welcome to come along and generally join in the party and make use of the bar and don’t miss the Festival Auction – which promises to be really special this year.

We have to confirm catering numbers the week beforehand and if you leave it to the day you may well find tickets have run out so please reserve your meal tickets in advance by contacting the Festival office. Either pay by cheque on application or you can pay and pick up your tickets on the day from the Information tent but you need to collect these by 3pm on the day or they will be released for others to buy as we ALWAYS run out!!.

Guess what Redwood Lodge has changed hands again – not much of a surprise to anyone who stayed their last year!! It is now part of the Bespoke Hotel Group. We have again negotiated a group rate, and ring fenced an allocation of 30 rooms. This is the nearest hotel to the site and the car park can take vans, cars with top boxes etc. These rates will be held for reservations made before 31^st July 2009.

Costs are £75 per night for a double/twin including bed & breakfast

Bookings should be made direct with Redwood Lodge on tel 01275 393901 or email info.redwoodlodge@bespokehotels.com and mention you are booking as part of the Kite Festival.

If we get any other hotel deals offered these will be posted on the festival website www.kite-festival.org

If you want to look at other hotel options try the Bristol Tourist Information Centre Accommodation hotline 0845 408 0474 or try www.visitbristol.co.uk

To get your car pass please apply in writing, with SAE, BUT SEND NO MONEY to: Festival Office, 5 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BY Passes will be issued by on a first come first served basis up to a maximum of 500. (Any kite flyers who are AKF members will have received details in the recent AKF Newsletter asking their members to reply separately) The Festival will also be running a system of dropping off passes for those with particularly heavy loads of kites and kit so again mention this in your car parking request.

On behalf of the Festival team we are looking forward to seeing you soon.

Any queries please contact Avril Baker or Lynn Gibbons at:

Festival Office, 5 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BY

Tel: 0117 977 2002 Fax: 0117 977 4255

www.kite-festival.org or e-mail kites@abc-pr.co.uk

Background: This year is proving really tough for everyone, and businesses and organisations are just not spending on marketing or sponsoring events. The bottom line is that to go ahead we need to raise at least £10,000 to fund essential on site infrastructure and cover the costs of flyers and participants - or else we may have to cancel.

We have launched a special fundraising campaign aimed at businesses, the kite industry, kite enthusiasts/clubs/societies and the public. We are fortunate to have strong local, national and international support for the Festival, and hope that by offering opportunities for businesses and individuals we can raise much needed funds, and at the same time supporters can benefit from being a part of our Festival.

The Festival was started by Martin Lester, myself and another colleague and is still organised and run by a small team of local flyers on a voluntary basis. It has become a major event in the South West and is well known within the international kite world. The Festival pulls in crowds of over 30,000 people and last year we had peaks of over 2,200 daily hits to the Festival website and were thrilled that both BBC Blue Peter and Channel 4’s Scrap Heap Challenge filmed over the weekend.

We have three packages for businesses, organisations and/or individuals: Gold (£1,000), Silver (£500) and Bronze (£50). In addition, local people are invited to get behind the event by becoming a Friend of the Festival for a donation of £20. In return for their donation all supporters will receive a commemorative Bristol Blue Glass kite-themed coaster being created especially for the Festival.

Supporters who take up one of the top three packages can benefit from promotional and corporate opportunities providing publicity and profile in the run up to the Festival, and also have the chance to get involved during the weekend. Gold supporters will have their own branded Japanese kite made and flown in the kite fighting battles and have an opportunity to fly some of the stars of the show. Silver supporters will see their names flying high on an air banner attached to one of the large special shape kites. Bronze supporters will be thanked publicly at the festival and have their names included on the Bristol 2009 Serpent kite which will be displayed and flown at the Festival and afterwards by Avon Kite Flyers Club.

I am contacting you to see if you can help support us. I would also be grateful if you could spread the word and forward this message on to any of your friends or contacts who might also be interested. Would you also be able to post this message on your club newsletter or add it to your website if you have one?

We have given ourselves a month to see if we can secure some support. If there isn’t a realistic chance of covering our costs or underwriting the event in some way, we will have to make the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Festival, in which case we would of course refund any pledges made. Cancelling would be a huge disappointment to all our flyers, exhibitors and our new nominated charity Marie Curie Cancer Care, as well as the many members of the public who come along every year and join in the fun. We are determined to do everything we can to go ahead this year and also to make it to 2010 - which will not only mark our 25th year but also give us the chance to join in the exciting celebrations for the Bristol Year of Flight.”

If you can help, please visit www.kite-festival.org.uk/friends-of-the-festival or make a cheque payable to: Bristol Kite Festival and post to c/o Festival Office, 5 Lilymead Avenue, Bristol BS4 2BY. If the Festival is cancelled all donations will be refunded.

For any sponsorship enquiries or fundraising ideas please do contact me

Thank you very much i

Avril Baker

email: kites@abc-pr.co.uk

tel: 0117 977 2002

The Concern Stop Child Labour Kitefest

 Ireland’s first International Kite Festival is taking place on the weekend of 12 and 13 September. 

 The event will raise awareness of child labour and other issues that affect children – particularly those in the developing world.

 It will take place in the Garda and Camogie Sports Grounds in the Phoenix Park, Dublin.

 There will be kite flyers from around the world there, displaying their brilliant kites. You can bring along your own kite or take part in one of our kite-making workshops.

 Kitefest has been organised in association with SARI (Sports Against Racism Ireland).  SARI’s Soccerfest will take place alongside our kite festival.  Soccerfest is in its 13th year of the anti-racism soccer challenge. Young people from over 20 countries will participate in the two-day event.

 Be sure to come along – there’ll be something there for everyone in the family. Free music, children’s entertainment and lots of kites and football to watch!

 Sep 12 2009 (All day) - Sep 13 2009 (All day)

 This is an opportunity to see a great selection of kite fliers.  They will provide spectacular displays of skill and artistry on the weekend, 12^th – 13^th of September. 

 These guests will put on colourful demonstrations of kites including Geckos, Octopus, Teddy Bears and much more.  There will be a wide range of kites to enjoy and admire. These include beautiful single line kites - intricately appliquéd or painted with magnificent designs, amazing cellular kites – flying miracles of structural engineering, awe inspiring 3D soft kites in a magical range of shapes and sizes and skilfully flown kites performing excellent tricks and routines to music.  Many of these expert kite fliers have appeared at kite festivals around the world for many years and they will put on their best display of beautiful kites throughout the event. 

 Guest Highlights this year include:

• Pedro and Estaban Gonzales from Spain, who make and fly quirky inflatable kites in a every growing variety of forms, including devils, suns, animal faces and ghosts.
• The Flying Squad from the UK is arguably the most successful Quad line team anywhere in the world.  The Flying Squad is now one of the most experienced kite display teams in Europe. Comprising of single, dual and multi-line kite fliers who have demonstrated their skill on the field and in competitions at National and International level.  The competition team remain undefeated European Champions, a title they have held since 2000.  The Flying Squad also has an impressive selection of single line kites.
• Jurgen and Gaby Ebbinghaus from Mönchengladbach, Germany are particularly known for their large inflatable Flying Fish kites.  Jurgen and Gaby have attended many kite festivals around the world.
• Skyartists (U.K.) are a kite display team consisting of a number of couples.  At this Concern KiteFest are Jim and Vanessa Potts, Dennis and Pat Emslie, and Keith Proctor and Lorna Carpenter.   The team was formed one evening in 2004 at the Sunderland International Kite Festival, Tyne and Wear. After a few displays in 2004 the following year was very busy. They displayed at various venues ranging from Portsmouth to St. Andrews in Scotland. They have attended kite festivals, balloon festivals, country park open days, and small village fairs.  Bringing their large collection of kites to the event.  They are bringing a large selection of inflatable kites including Teddy Bears, Dogs, Cats, Lobsters and Crabs.
• Ben Howard and Carolyn Byron of Team Flic – Four Line International Club.  A primarily French based team specialising in flying controllable four line kites to music.  They will be joining the Flying Squad in many of their displays.
• The Bloom Family.  As well as co-organising this event they also organise many of the largest kite festivals in the U.K.  But they are kite fliers as well. Anything that Gill Bloom has made is recognizable by the amount of colour and detail in her kites and banners!   Painstakingly, she details the highlights using the colour of the dyes, appliquéd fabrics and extra stitching. 
•  Michel Depuijdt from Belgium is a member of the Atomic Kite Team and is particularly known for his line flags – 50 plus metres of material streaming from the kite line making an impressive aerial sculpture.  Also have cartoon character inflatable kites such as Paddington Bear.
• Patrik Koppens also from Belgium.  Known for his framed kites especially a set of four Japanese style Rokkaku kites with the faces of The Beatles.
• Bryn and Lesley Baggerley  of  Wigsley Wings  bring many years of experience in flying both multi-line and single-line kites, but specialise in flying large inflatables of all shapes and sizes at events all over Europe.  Several of their kites are huge - two of our Octopuses are 40 metres long and 7 metres wide - and they also have a fantastic collection of large and medium kites to fill the sky.  We believe we have the best collection of giant inflatables in the UK including a few kites unique to the team.
• Jerry and Carolyn Swift – stalwarts of the British kite flying scene they bring a number of unique aspects to the event including a Double Headed Chinese Dragon kite and parachuting Teddy Bears.  The Teddy Bears will be camped out on the field for inspection prior to their inaugural jump in the Republic of Ireland.

 This promises to be a great day out for all the family, taking place from 10am to 6pm on both Saturday and Sunday.  

 All kite flying events are subject to the weather conditions.