Southend’s skies are set to come alive with a burst of colour during the Wattle Range Giant Kite Festival at Yacht Club Beach later this month.
A free kite festival will be held at Southend on January 24. Photo: Adelaide Kite Flyers Association
Kite enthusiast Steve Arthur will be at the event on Wednesday January 24, showcasing his scuba diver kite and shark kite to recreate a movie scene in the sky.
Arthur is part of the Adelaide Kite Flyers Association, which will fly up to 50 kites ranging from three to up to 25 metres long on the beach.
A 12-metre blue whale kite will be a highlight of the Wattle Range Giant Kite Festival. Photo: Adelaide Kite Flyers Association
Operating since 1992, the kite flying social club promotes the hobby as an inexpensive outdoor activity with no age limit.
“We’re all fighting against technology,” Arthur said.
“It’s easy to give a kid a screen. Kite flying is a hands-on hobby that requires you to do the work.
“Kites come in all shapes and colours, they’re no longer little triangles. Some can even illuminate. There’s no limit to kites.”
Returning for its third year, the free kite festival is open to kite flyers of all ages and experience levels.
“Kite flying is a fun activity for all ages and a great excuse to get outside and enjoy the simple pleasures in life,” said Caroline Hill, the community development manager at Wattle Range Council.
Hill said the festival will feature marine-themed kites to reflect the region’s proximity to the sea, celebrate the community’s environment and promote outdoor sea-related activities such as fishing and kayaking.
She said visitors can bring their own kites or book in to join an on-site kite building and decorating class.
The region’s first kite festival was at Beachport in 2020, before the pandemic put a stop to the fun until its comeback in 2022. For 2024, the council decided to make the event bigger, and relocated it to Southend to help drive tourism in the town.
Not all kites take to the sky. These ground Turtle kites will add some colour to the beach festival. Photo: AKFA
The festival is part of the Full Throttle in Wattle Summer Holiday series of events, which include a colour run, BBQ lunches, sheep shearing demonstrations, Indigenous season walks and more.
“We hope the giant kite festival becomes an annual event,” Hill said.
The Wattle Range Giant Kite Festival will take place at Yacht Club Beach, Leake Street Beach Access, Southend on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, from 10am. Entry to the festival is free.
Words: Sharni McPhail
