Today Monday is a public holiday in Italy and there is no work. Having the day off, we decided to go see the International Kite Festival "ARTEVENTO" (AIRWIND would be the literal translation of the name to English) held in Cervia, a town near where we live.
It is a fairly famous festival in the international kite world, since many people come from different countries to participate. It has been held since 1981 and this is already the 42nd edition of the festival.
We only went to the part of the beach where the kites were being flown but it has different events that take place throughout a whole week during the day and also part of the night.
And everything revolves around the kites! 🪁🪁🪁
When we got to the beach the weather was good but to our bad luck five minutes after arriving the weather suddenly changed, it got cloudy and the wind speed dropped so many of the big kites stopped flying. And that also affected the capture of the photos a bit, but it didn't prevent me from taking some pretty good ones of the kites that were still flying.
Something that caught my attention and that you will see in some of the photos was the way of attaching the rope of those giant kites to the ground. They used big bags and sacks full of sand for it. Especially because of the way many of these kites were flown, several were attached to the same rope, it was something necessary. Sand, especially wet sand, is quite heavy. And of course, where can you find better wet sand than at the seashore?
Another new thing for me is that to fly those big kites they use a more normal first kite that helps them lift the bigger ones. For example, in the photo below where that gigantic octopus was already lowering, you can see above it a small square floating.
I tried to take a detailed photo of the more normal kite that is used as an aid. It's not the best photo but at least you can see what I'm talking about.
There were all kinds of kites and the most diverse sizes. In the shape of animals, fantasies and even shapes of things that you would not imagine could fly like a kite.
We also found groups of banderoles that seemed to me something like artistic installations, especially because of the way they were distributed. With forms like coral, simulating a forest, in the form of jellyfish, fish or with slightly more artistic forms, they were very beautiful to see. I, of course, photographed some of those groups.
As can be seen in all the photos, it was a show, in general, quite colorful despite the change in weather. The next time I go (next year) I'm going to bring my own kite because it's much more fun that way. My idea is to try to make one like the ones my friends and I used to make in Cuba when we were kids. It will be quite a challenge but a very beautiful one.