Open invite to go fly a kite

Enjoying kites on Stanwell Park Beach were Jacinta Deacon, Zoe Creagan, Natasha Deacon and Rob Deacon.

MANY would agree that there is something uplifting about flying a kite, and Stanwell Park's Festival of Flight kite coordinator Rob Deacon believes that seeing hundreds of kites flying together is no less than awe-inspiring.

In previous years in the lead up to the Festival of Flight, which celebrates Stanwell Park's own aviation pioneer Lawrence Hargrave, Mr Deacon has organised massive kite flying events for local school children on Stanwell Park Beach.

Mr Deacon said in recent years he's had hundreds of coloured kites soaring above the beach.

“In the past we've had between 500 and 800 kites covering the beach and it really looks fantastic,” he said.

This year for the first time ever the mass kite flying will be open to the general public and held during the festival on Saturday, November 10.

Mr Deacon said that this year the event would be a true community gathering.

“People of all ages have been invited to create a spectacular sight by flying hundreds of kites off Stanwell Park Beach to colour the skies in celebration of Lawrence Hargrave,” he said.

“The community event will bring families and friends together to enjoy the simple pleasure of flying a kite on the beach where Lawrence Hargrave created history in 1894.”

With kites often associated with tangles, having several hundred in the air at once might seem like madness, but Mr Deacon said like boats at anchor in harbour together, the wind pulls the kites in the same direction and keeps them apart naturally.

As a further salute to Hargrave's ingenuity the Festival of Flight will include a fly-over of historical planes including a Qantas Constellation “Connie”, a Neptune Bomber a DC3 and others. The fly-over will take place at 1pm.

There will also be a great range of stalls, rides and fun things to do on the day, and organisers have promised a solid line-up of festival-friendly bands, including The Tracks, Matt Tonks and Syd Green, Big Erle, Nicole Brophy, Pettibone, Aunty Pop and Jigzag.

The festival kicks off on Saturday, November 10 at 10am and visitors have been encouraged to catch buses and car pool to the event.