Kite festivals- joining in and participation

[HedgerowPete]

Brand new to all this kite mullarky. Been on my own in fields and  parks all my life and now at the grand old age of fifty wanted to take a couple of steps further up the participation ladder. but hit a massive brick wall of ignorance.

 

I have gone to hundreds of kite festivals in europe and the UK, took along one of my  kites too play with, single line small stuff, the odd lifter and a bag of laundry and so forth, no inflatables.

And just set up on the beach or grass at the festival and just flew my  kites along with everyone else, had a great day and left.

I have standard kite club insurance and public liability stuff and just generally enjoyed myself had a great day out with the wife kids and went home.

I recently mentioned on line, ( not a great fan of face book) that i was going to go to the Staint Annes kite festival in the UK this weekend, I was then greeted with Adolf Hitlers kite grandson and the fact i had not "registered" and that the registraion is closed and your not allowed to fly without papers, he then goes off about Risk andMethod statements, "display insurance" which i dont have apparently. and a shed load of other stuff.

 

so questions;

1, do you need to register at a kite festival?

2, who do you call to register and when and how?

3, if i brought a maxi inflatable kite, does that mean i have to get  display insurance or commercial insurances?

4, land anchor points are supposed to have a design so you know there safe working loads????????????????????? has anyone ever done this??

5, what happened to the days of you could just turn up and join in?

6, say all this BS is true, whats stopping me walking up the beach 500 metres and just flying my kites as a public person in a public space?

[Paul LaMasters]

3 hours ago, HedgerowPete said:

Brand new to all this kite mullarky. Been on my own in fields and  parks all my life and now at the grand old age of fifty wanted to take a couple of steps further up the participation ladder. but hit a massive brick wall of ignorance.

 

I have gone to hundreds of kite festivals in europe and the UK, took along one of my  kites too play with, single line small stuff, the odd lifter and a bag of laundry and so forth, no inflatables.

And just set up on the beach or grass at the festival and just flew my  kites along with everyone else, had a great day and left.

I have standard kite club insurance and public liability stuff and just generally enjoyed myself had a great day out with the wife kids and went home.

I recently mentioned on line, ( not a great fan of face book) that i was going to go to the Staint Annes kite festival in the UK this weekend, I was then greeted with Adolf Hitlers kite grandson and the fact i had not "registered" and that the registraion is closed and your not allowed to fly without papers, he then goes off about Risk andMethod statements, "display insurance" which i dont have apparently. and a shed load of other stuff.

First off, I've never been to a European festival, so my wit and wisdom are surely limited values!

so questions;

1, do you need to register at a kite festival? For some it won't matter, you are NOT one of the in-crowd (been here myself several times, LOL!) you'll get regulated to a corner or told "you next" and it never happens.  Find an area to yourself and just work with what you have, you're still there and flying!  Who cares if you aren't the in-crowd.  Make your own music

2, who do you call to register and when and how? If they want you included that information is freely offered, where to stay, a schedule of activities available, locations and times who is the major point of contract, for the festival, housing, transportation, sometimes even community shared meals!  These gigs want you to come, make it easy to join-in and have a spot for you in the line-up.  (these are the ones where you can make a name for yourself, go the extra mile, set-up and take-down you're THERE helping, an unasked-for sandwich for the announcer, SMILES and sharing with the spectators.  Don't have much room to fly?, then set-up a kite corral of your various and coolest pieces, talking to the interested folks about each of 'em.

3, if i brought a maxi inflatable kite, does that mean i have to get  display insurance or commercial insurances? You don't want to "be the guy" who screwed it up for all of us!  Big kites need big approvals, locations, teams, anchor points whatever it takes to protect your investment and the public's safety.  Insurance smooths ruffled feathers, you might not get an opportunity to fly w/o it.  Looking at it from anyone else's perspective and those things are dangerous looking!

4, land anchor points are supposed to have a design so you know there safe working loads????????????????????? has anyone ever done this?? double and triple redundancy in the sand, I've seen tractors used on grass, the point is be prepared for the worse, if it did get away, where would it go, what's downwind if it suddenly shifts directions?

5, what happened to the days of you could just turn up and join in? Lawyers and funding 

6, say all this BS is true, whats stopping me walking up the beach 500 metres and just flying my kites as a public person in a public space? Nothing, just don't "be that guy" (see above).  I've done this many times myself, but I fly sport kites and they can work in tight spaces nobody else wants anyway.  They work in crap conditions when no one else can fly unless they have indoor equipment.

 

[HedgerowPete]

cheers paul, thanks for some honest answers rather than the usual fluffi get when i ask this sort of stuff else where, i have a couple of large lifters and a bag of fuzzy tails and streamers as line laundry, i thought you could just go to a kite fest and just join in, but apparently not. the whole maxi kite inflatable is another  subject i have a shed load of answers on but again very little public information.

 

do you own, have owned or used a maxi kite, do they come with a written set of figures with it, so much  anchorage required, wind calcs, wind speed and all that stuff?

[Wayne Dowler]

This would best be asked to some of your European folks over there. Having never been, I really don't know the requirements of their particular festivals. 

On the other hand, any "big" kite flier should be able to help with the basic ideas on anchors, line requirements, etc. I would try to get in touch with someone that has experience with big kites. IMHO!

[davide63]

Hi, earlier this year I went to a kite festival at Westward Ho! in Devon. I didn't have to register, I just turned up, found a space in the correct area and flew.

[Breezin]

Excellent questions.Never been to a festival yet so this info is much needed. Now here's some fluffi.Last year at the Huntington Beach CA. USA Kite Party fella had a very large kite get away. Landed in some palm trees and was difficult to get down. Thanks to the organizers(Kite Connection) relationship with the city fines were averted , city workers helped and kite came away unscathed. Never been to Kite Party but you need to register. Fliers and line length are limited due to space. After seeing those pictures I can understand the need for insurance at some venues.KITE MULLARKY? I must say I am rather offended.The proper terminology fine sir is KITE BULLARKY(in Yoder anyways). Please imagine snobby sniff HERE .Signed great nephew of Adolpho Hetler the anti nazi.🤣 

[Paul LaMasters]

HA! no big stuff for me, no single lined or stacked sport kites either, I'm out regardless, all busted-up old guy who needs physical therapy and hurts every morning.  

I'm in a club though and we have every kind of kite represented by one of us, for indoor mini gliders to massive inflatables.  Those big-guns are managed by a crew who run together, caravan traveling, lodging... the best-est of friends.  One guy could do it alone, but a few buds make it so much more pleasurable.  Plus you can tangle someone else's crap up ~ besides your own!  Stack multiples from a common anchor area, above and beside each other.  You can dig whilst we all bury!  Lugging all the heavy show-kite stuff across the field on carts or wagons, again teams can push/pull across that mountain pass if necessary.  It's a worthy mission!  They have trailers filled with kiting stuff depending on the conditions, creature comforts are a paramount consideration too.  They will all want to park close by and have access to the flight-area early, staying later than everyone else as well.  

six people together generates a couple of dozen solutions to every encountered problem!  Run as a unit together long enough and you've proven or not each of these solutions.  Team-mates help each other in times of difficulty sharing equipment knowledge and sweat equity

 

[HedgerowPete]

again many thanks all, i want to step up for large lifters and laundry to inflatables, i was looking at threeor four small ones when of course you get to see the larger inflatables, i have been told to stay away from maxi trilobites and sting rays as they can generate to much lift to deal with safely on my own. i want to stay on my own as well please, i amnot a team player and dont have the flexability to tie in with others peoples plans. I have spoken to a few sellers of new maxi inflatables as to which ones i can deal with.

 

I had not realised you had to prebook at a show, i have always just turned up and flown what i have with me, i never knew there was set areas or set times to fly, never knew that at all          !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

as for a large kite anchor and so forth i can sort all that out, sand or soil, but i need to work out what sort of power and lift these things can generate, as a solo flier, i also need to work out how to deflate one in an emergancy as well, some form of chicken line into the main internal support  grids to fold the input area or the internal middle sections.

as for anchor points i was seriously looking at the 4X4 people and the ways they tow landrovers out of muddy bogs and army truck recovery, there kit is also weight load tested and is designed for this sort of stuff.

So make to the topic please, say i want to go to a show, say Berck Sur Mer in France they have five large square areaaners marked out, three are normally empty as they are used for the day time shows and events andone is normally populated with what i would call proffessional kite show people with their amazing creations and so on.

the other ring has a few kites on show in it so i take it thats for the little people like me, they normally supply large concrete blocks to tie to, so for me to get permission to be in there i would need to apply before hand and get    agreement. do you have to send in  information on what you want to fly and its details ect, insurance details and all that jazz ?

[makatakam]

You can pretty much do anything as long as you don't mind being sued and having everything you own taken away from you and your earnings garnished for the rest of your life, or fined and/or imprisoned. If you kill someone with your kite, who is responsible? These risks are taken by the sponsors and organisers of the festival and they must purchase insurance usually required by law to hold the festival which exposes the public to various risks. They want you to register so you are covered by that insurance they purchased. They give a list of those persons who are insured to the authorities. If you're not on the list, you are not covered and not allowed to play on their turf. If you want to go fly further down the beach you can, but you're on your own. You hurt one of the spectators you are only covered by whatever insurance you have. It's not so much a matter of if they like you or not -- it's all about liability. Fifty years ago if someone was injured by a kite it would be considered an accident and no one would sue anyone. Nowadays someone has been negligent and must be martyred. It's the mindset of being victimized and greed that has screwed things up, not the festival organisers.

[Hengdakite Fan]

I will be attending the Mile High Kite Festival in Banner Elk/Beech Mountain North Carolina. It is located on the slopes of Grandfather Mountain. If the weather is good its a blast. 

I will also be attending the Treasure Island Kite Festival Tampa Florida in January 2020. Both Festivals are easy to participate in and are well run, just pay attention to the rules they have posted and stay in the areas designated for your type of kite flying. 

 

[HedgerowPete]

19 hours ago, makatakam said:

You can pretty much do anything as long as you don't mind being sued and having everything you own taken away from you and your earnings garnished for the rest of your life, or fined and/or imprisoned. If you kill someone with your kite, who is responsible? These risks are taken by the sponsors and organisers of the festival and they must purchase insurance usually required by law to hold the festival which exposes the public to various risks. They want you to register so you are covered by that insurance they purchased. They give a list of those persons who are insured to the authorities. If you're not on the list, you are not covered and not allowed to play on their turf. If you want to go fly further down the beach you can, but you're on your own. You hurt one of the spectators you are only covered by whatever insurance you have. It's not so much a matter of if they like you or not -- it's all about liability. Fifty years ago if someone was injured by a kite it would be considered an accident and no one would sue anyone. Nowadays someone has been negligent and must be martyred. It's the mindset of being victimized and greed that has screwed things up, not the festival organisers.

cheers, no one has ever explained that point of view before

 

[Breezin]

Killed by a kite? Coming into this sport I had no idea except for the jumpers, wind surfers etc. Didn't take me long to understand. Couple line burns and a serious thump in the face changed the way I fly in 20 mph +. At the start it took some effort to wrangle my younger grandkids in. Like young ones do the excitement overrides any thought of self preservation. Few weeks back 10 year old and two 8 year olds were visiting. Winds started hitting 20 and everyone was having quite a time on the 1.4 foil. Still had to keep a firm grip on them but they're getting it. Winds went a bit higher and I put the 10 year old on the Delta Hawk. Gave them all another lecture on how extreme the conditions had become. Didn't tell the boy anything about the Hawk except it was faster. He's the one that's been the hardest to get the dangers pounded into his head.Boy loves high risk fun more than any of the others. He's had some line burns, thumped couple times and has launched kites when he wasn't supposed to. He did a lot better than expected. After his 1st crash with huge eyes he said to me Oh sh** Ponca that would really hurt. The others howling with glee at his foul mouth and me chuckling inside while scolding him I knew he'd finally got it. After more than a year!! Imagine looking after adults that don't understand at a large gathering. Nevermind their nutjob kids running around having a blast. Be a full time job.