|
|
Post by cardiganislandfarmpk on Nov 17, 2016 2:47:51 GMT
Hello everybody ! I have just joined this forum. Look's interesting. I own Cardigan Island Coastal Farm Park in Gwbert, Cardigan , West Wales. I am exploring the possibility of holding a new Kite Festival here over a week-end in June 2017. We have a beautiful coastal field in the farm park , with the sea on two sides and no electricity wires. The field is about 20 acres and overlooks Cardigan Island, a nature reserve 250 metres offshore. Grey seals , which are viewed daily, breed in caves below the field and Cardigan Bay's bottlenose dolphins pass by regularly. We charge an entry fee of only £3--90 per adult and £2-90 per child into the farm park, where we also have farm animals....sheep, ponies, goats, cattle ,chickens , donkey, , a llama, emu and rare breed pigs. Children can feed them.
We have an adjoining caravan and camping site with showers and electric hook ups..........plus superb sunsets over Cardigan Bay, Teifi Estuary, Cardigan Island and Pembrokeshire National Park across the estuary.
There are beaches all around. We have a 92 ft x78 ft Visitor Centre with cafe, craft shop , pool table , giant lego....plus a play area outside. We have sea breezes most of the time. The two most popular hotels and restaurants in the area are literally a 15 minute walk from our camp site and farm park. The Farm Park and camping are open from April 1st to November 1st in 2017.
I think it would be an excellent venue for a new kite festival. Any thoughts?
|
|
|
|
Post by mr pirate on Nov 17, 2016 9:01:00 GMT
Sounds a very good place to hold a festival but we do have a pretty full June and July down the south  |
|
|
|
Post by cardiganislandfarmpk on Nov 17, 2016 13:48:33 GMT
Hi,
June is the best month for us, because we are flat out with Cardigan Island Coastal Farm Park visitors and campers in July and August. September is another possiblity but it can get wet and too windy some years.
|
|
|
|
Post by dreamcatcherwolf on Nov 17, 2016 16:49:28 GMT
Sounds good, but I might have to decline... West Wales for a kite festival on the first bank holiday weekend in May, third week in May with Timberland Owners Club (the motorhome I own) in Lincolnshire, last bank holiday in May Margam Park Kite Festival, South Wales, first weekend in June Basingstoke Kite Festival, I'm part of the crew, now another one in Wales: it's like I've caught my braces, and can't stop being thrown backwards and forwards across the country!
|
|
|
|
Post by MikeP on Nov 17, 2016 19:53:20 GMT
Always interested in a new kite festival, sounds like it could be an ideal location. I'd do my best to attend if, as others have said, it doesn't clash with anything else.
|
|
|
|
Post by cardiganislandfarmpk on Nov 18, 2016 2:24:56 GMT
Hello everybody,
I'm just putting out feelers regarding a new kite festival at Cardigan Island Coastal Farm Park at the moment. I don't yet know what is involved. I've never been to a kite festival and never seen the big kites flown,apart from on TV. I KNOW we have a good potential site because of the stunning scenery; our camp site; our sea breezes [ the sea surrounds our location for 270 degrees of a 360 degree circle] ; our visitor centre with cafe and our flat or gently sloping fields, within the Farm Park...... with no electricity cables around.
How high do you fly the big kites? How much space is needed in between individual kite flyers,please? Do the kites need to be transported by vehicle to the flying field , or do you carry them manually ? It is about 300 metres from the visitor centre to the field.
Do children with their small kites have to keep well away from the big ones? How big ,in square feet, can your kites be? What sort of displays are involved?
I'm completely new to this past-time, but it looks to be very interesting.
|
|
|
|
Post by jelv on Nov 18, 2016 9:13:20 GMT
I would suggest you need to visit one of the existing kite festivals to see what goes on - you'd then have a pretty good idea of what is needed. You'd also be able to talk to the flyers. kitecalendar.co.uk/ has nearly all the festivals (and if they are notified about one missing they will put it on). Next years events will be appearing over the next two or three months but generally they stay at the same weekend so look at last year's kitecalendar.co.uk/2016.htmYou do need areas for the public to fly away from our big kites. If we can drive on to the flying area that is ideal as display kites are heavy and we can then anchor to the vehicle - otherwise a few one ton bags of ballast such as Jewson's deliver 20M+ apart are perfect. Medium size kites we can use stakes if the ground is receptive. |
|
|
|
Post by batchoy on Nov 18, 2016 10:10:33 GMT
To add to Jelv's post, kite festivals can be split into two basic types. Ones like Margam where the organisers set up an arena where the exhibitors fly whatever they want and are segregated from the general public and ones where festival has two or more arenas, one or more for exhibitors to fly static displays particularly of large static kites and a demonstration arena where there is an organised schedule of events where you have display teams such as Flying Fish, Team Spectrum, Flying Squad etc putting on displays using multiple multi-line kites, Portsmouth Kite festival falls in this category.
In the case of festivals like Margam the costs are very little, you obviously need insurance, publicity etc but you do not necessarily have to pay the kiteflyers to turn up. However you have no guarantee that any will turn up or what mix of kites you will have in the air since as there is no remuneration people do not feel duty bound to attend and so won't if the weather forecast looks in any way off or there is a more local event. A lot of the Kiteweekenders are based in the South and East of the UK so Wales is a long trek, we do Margam because of the site, the welcome we get and the fact that it is a 3 day festival (5 days on site) over a bank holiday which makes the travelling worth while particularly now that fuel prices are on the way up again.
In the case of festivals with demonstration arenas you will need to pay appearance fees and/or provide food and accommodation and travelling expenses particularly so for those appearing in the demonstration arena but paying people with large show displays as well will go some way to guaranteeing that people will turn up and put on some form of display whatever the weather and you will have some idea of what sort of display you are going to get.
Finally don't expect to charge kiteflyers who are displaying for camping etc, there are some events where we do pay because the event is to raise money for a particular cause, but not for public events where we are expected to put on a display to draw in the public to make money for the organiser. This goes for nights either side of the event too, so if you are putting on a two day weekend event you would need to accommodate flyers from at least Friday until Monday, and being located where you are this would need to be a two day weekend event to make it worth while travelling.
In terms of altitude we are legally limited to 60m but you can apply to the CAA for dispensation for the event and depending on your location in relation to flightpaths, airports etc you can get a NOTAM which allows flying up to several thousand feet. However for the large show kites/inflatables the inflatables typically fly 5 - 10m from the ground so that they can be viewed by the public whilst the pilot which is lifting/sabilising them is flown at the lowest altitude to get clean stable wind which can mean as little as 20-30m or as much as 100-150m.
Looking at your location whilst the lack of trees should mean clean winds, winds off the sea could be problematic as the cliffs will cause the wind to roll accelerate up the cliff face but roll back down causing a down draft some metres back from the edge which would probably mean long launching to get pilots up through the disrupted air.
|
|
|
|
Post by cardiganislandfarmpk on Nov 25, 2016 11:30:12 GMT
Thank-you for the advice and info everyone, particularly Jelv and Batchoy.
The June 2017 festival I want to start with, will be 2 days, Saturday and Sunday. Who are these people with "large show displays"? Are they to be seen on kite videos on the internet? Do you have names, please? I can be contacted on info@cardiganisland.com. I can provide those kite displayers with free camping/caravanning in June at our camp site. We don't have our own caravans. It's a touring site with showers and electric hook-ups. On the cliff-top fields, kites can be flown 150 metres back from the actual cliff edge, which is fenced off.
How high do the large display kites normally fly?
|
|
|
|
Post by jelv on Nov 25, 2016 23:47:26 GMT
Kite festivals tend to stick to the same weekends each year and people will go to them every year so you would need to avoid those. Likely June festivals so far: June 3-4 Basingstoke (confirmed) June 15-18 Fano (confirmed) June 17-18 Sumners RC & Kites (probable date) Barmouth has moved to second weekend in July. |
|
|
|
Post by batchoy on Nov 26, 2016 23:16:45 GMT
Kite festivals tend to stick to the same weekends each year and people will go to them every year so you would need to avoid those. Likely June festivals so far: June 3-4 Basingstoke (confirmed) June 15-18 Fano (confirmed) June 17-18 Sumners RC & Kites (probable date) Barmouth has moved to second weekend in July. Don't forget Margam is confirmed as May 29-31 and Bognor as July 1-2 plus Brighton is normally the second weekend in July, which takes us from from late May to mid July with not many dates to spare. I also have pending international invitations for mid June and early July. The one weekend that I do have clear after Portsmouth's change is August Bank Holiday. |
|
|
|
Post by jelv on Nov 27, 2016 8:45:56 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by cardiganislandfarmpk on Nov 28, 2016 4:27:05 GMT
So how does June 24th and 25th 2017 look ? Is that weekend fairly free? Good long days. June 21st is the longest day.
|
|
|
|
Post by cardiganislandfarmpk on Nov 28, 2016 14:41:46 GMT
Too busy here in August, anyway. Schoolchildren and parents all over Cardigan Island Coastal Farm Park from July 15th to September 1st. No time to put on a kite festival.
Visitors want to see the SEALS and BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS in the wild in the school holidays.
Plus our camp site is very full. August is pretty mad !
|
|
|
|
Post by royandhelen on Nov 28, 2016 21:59:38 GMT
So how does June 24th and 25th 2017 look ? Is that weekend fairly free? Good long days. June 21st is the longest day. I think we are OK for that weekend. Roy and Helen. |
|
