The Al-Farsi International Kite festival, Kuwait 2012
Brrrr......
February in England can be cold! What better than to head for the sun?
Advance Party
For Kathleen and I, the Festival starts early, when we meet up with the team to help build the infrastructure. A 250m x 230m area is fenced off to stop people from driving through, floodlights are installed, Six marquees, four toilet blocks, water tanks, flagpoles, additional anchors buried. The build takes longer than the festival.
Hotel
We had a new hotel this year, "Le Royale", which was previously "Le Meridien".
Christian and Alexandra
First to arrive at the airport is Christian and Alex from Germany. They bring 100Kg of kites, including the enormous Bob the Builder.
Simo Salanne
Then, from Finland arrives Simo Salanne, who takes advantage of his beard to become Santa Clause for the day.
Rolf Zimmerman and Ulrika
Rolf brought a magnificent array of dragons, lobsters and owls. He managed to crash them into into cars, tents, lighting poles and most of the other kites in the field.
Malcolm and Jeanette Goodman
Malcolm brought Charlie to fly his kites.
John and Irene
Arriving from Singapore, John Tan and Irene Teo brought lovely large kites and laughter.
Manuel Burri
Manuel is from Switzerland but had spent the antipodean summer in New Zealand and managed to arrange his trip home to include a stop in Kuwait.
Elli and Bagus
Princess Elli from Bali always brings some glamour to an event.
Their giant cherub was unceremoniously castrated in order not to offend local sensibilities.
Jon and Gill Bloom
The Blooms brought their lovely artwork to the skies.
Dave Hoggan
All the way from California, Dave Hoggan is always great value.
New Zealand
From the Peter Lynn kite factory, we have Craig Hansen and Simon Chisnel of New Zealand
Karen Gamble
From Australia, Karen flew stacks of stunt kites and helped the children build their own kites in a workshop.
Andrew & Kathleen
We had the full family of tigers together, mum and three cubs.
Abdulrahman Al-Farsi
Known to his friends as "BoFaris" - Father of Faris.
Al-Farsi team
And, of course, there was the local Al-Farsi kite team. The Al-Farsi event is unique in the world in that the team has more than enough kites and flyers to put on a world class show by themselves but they like to invite others from round the world to share in the fun.
Children having Fun
Hummer
This hummer turned up on the field, so I requisitioned it for use as a kite anchor. I tied a huge airbanner and a Manta Ray to the towbar and proceeded to drive out the arena, round the desert and back in the other side.
Later, Craig, Kathleen and I went for a ride in it. The sound of the big engine is completely drowned by the whine of the huge superchargers. Then he turns on the Nitrous Oxide injection... Despite the huge weight, massive tyres and trick suspension, the vehicle has only has a fleeting relationship with the ground as we barrel across the desert.
