Ill winds for kite festival

“Crazy” winds made for a bumpy ride at the Nelson Summer Kite Festival.

Organiser Ted Howard said he never encountered such unusual winds in the 34 years of running the annual event at Neale Park, which had an international reputation as an urban kite flying venue.

Light and tricky breezes made kite flying difficult on the festival’s first day on Saturday but some of the bigger kites were able to get aloft. But Sunday’s shifting, gusty winds meant the large creations could not be flown at all.

One of the casualties was Howard’s flying blowfish, nicknamed Hootie, designed to be flown horizontally behind a vehicle, bouncing off the ground. The turbulent winds meant it was flying vertically at times, and a big gust tore it in half.

“I’ve got a bit of sewing in front of me,” he said.

Howard said the unusual conditions were caused by strong south-easterly winds that pushed up against the more typical northerly sea breezes that made Neale Park an ideal kite-flying location.

The clash resulted in constant changes of wind direction and strength throughout Sunday.

Despite the challenges, Howard was delighted with the public turnout on both days – with an estimated 2000 people on Sunday – and particularly the number of families with young children.

Smaller kites were much more able to cope with the tricky flying conditions, Howard said. “The field was filled with joyful little kids running around having a ball,” he said.

A couple of the small kites that escaped the clutches of their young owners ended up around 600-metres off the ground, borne aloft by the unusual conditions.

“I’ve no idea where they ended up,” he said.

Howard was upbeat about continuing the festival, which brought members of the New Zealand Kitefliers Association from Wellington and Ashburton. Now aged 68, he and his wife Gretchen had been running the festival for half of his life.

“When it works, it’s absolutely spectacular to see a huge bit of colour in the sky.

“A big thank you to the public for coming and supporting us even if we didn’t have the right conditions.”