Record number of kites fly for Achill kite festival

A RECORD number of kites flew over Keel beach on Achill Island on Sunday for the Mayo International Kite Festival which attracted a large crowd despite horrendous weather conditions.

The lashing rain which fell on Sunday did not deter people from attending the Mayo International Kite Flying Festival over the weekend with 15 professional kite flyers travelling from all over the world to Achill Island.

Kites of all shapes, colours and sizes flew on Keel beach and around Keel lake on Achill on Sunday for the festival which is becoming one of the highlights of the tourism calendar on the island.

Dolphins, whales, crocodiles and giant teddy bears will be among the creatures flying over the waves for the festival which is organised by Pure Magic, Westnet, Keel Camping and Mayo County Council.

The festival was first run on Keel beach in 2017 and according to Francois Colussi of Pure Magic, this year was the largest yet with a record attendance despite the poor weather.

“It was a huge success and the biggest lineup of kite flyers we ever had. We are going from strength to strength. It was a great success because over the two days we managed to reach our goal which was to fly kites and create a bit of magic.

“We had 15 pro kite flyers from all over the world and they brought all their huge kites and we never saw the sky of Achill filled with so many colourful kites,” he told The Mayo News.

“The main day the weather was incredibly bad and as one of the kite flyers said if it was any other country the event would have been cancelled and nobody would have turned up. But we saw the biggest crowd we ever had even compared to last year when it was super sunny. People came and came dressed for the weather and it was great to see and a great lesson in life. Sometimes even on rainy days you can have very positive moments and there was a lot of positive energy shared on the day.”

Francois explained that the festival is not only about the flying of the kites but also about the promotion of the arts and the local culture. He explained there were workshops for young children to make their own kite and it was heart-warming to see the children fly the kites they made themselves.

“It is a promotion of the place and the people and a promotion of art as well. We saw hundreds of little kites made during the kite workshops and it was fantastic. Not only were they made and kids used all their skills to design them but they were also flying them. There is no better view than seeing the kids flying their kites high in the sky above Keel,” he said.

Francois thanked all the partners involved in the festival and all the local people who volunteered and supported the festival and provided a warm welcome to all the kite flyers and visitors who came to see them.

“The festival is going from strength to strength but I hope to see it grow more in 2024,” he concluded.