While many will be heading to the beach on Easter Monday for their traditional family picnics, the skies at Devil’s Bridge in Willikies will be filled with an array of creative and colourful kites as part of the annual International Kite Festival.
The event has been an Easter tradition for many families across Antigua for almost two decades, and people of all ages, from gleeful, energetic children to adults who wish to remain children at heart, will be flying kites of varying colours, shapes and sizes.
And while many are already prepping their kites for the big day, one of the event’s organisers Mitzi Allen is encouraging everyone to come out to the festival which is celebrating its latest edition in grand style.
“It’s now 19 years and we are excited to be back at Devil’s Bridge on Easter Monday and we just want to remind our family and friends, especially those who come up, that you are in for a special treat.
“There is the kite flying competition which is open to businesses, amateurs and professional kiters. Your kites must fly; no matter how pretty it is … it must stay in the air for at least 15 minutes, in order to qualify as a kite that flies.
“The blue canvas of the sky is going to be filled with kites that you’ve never seen before. We have some brand new fresh display kites and we want you to come up with your kites to just polish that off. Come on up and enjoy,” Allen said.
Cash prizes are available for the winners.
Once again, the Confucius Institute of Antigua and Barbuda will be partnering with the organisers for the event.
“They have been tremendous over the last few years, even during Covid when we had the ‘tap a ya yard’ competition,” Allen added.
The festival is being hosted by CP Kites whose head Calvin Pilgrim shared that the competition will consist of three categories – amateur, pro kite and corporate kite.
“Registration is from 9am until about 11, 12, so that we will have enough time for judging and each kite is $20 to enter a kite.
“Amateurs and professionals pay $20 and the commercial kites competition is open to any business, no matter what you’re selling or what you’re doing. It’s also a good way to rep your company and get your name out there. It’s $100 for the business kites,” Pilgrim explained.
Patty Delight won the commercial kite category last year while Donaldson Lee was the pro kite winner.
Laura Liburd was the amateur kite winner and smallest kite was a tie between Zeegor Meade and David Nelson.
Mark Dehary won the show kite or ‘people’s choice’ category.
Meanwhile, Allen told residents who wish to honour a loved one that they will be able to do so in a special way with another feature of the festival.
“We are going to have our dove kite as usual because one of the things that we do on Easter Monday is we remember all the people that passed this past year.
“So, our dove kite will be flying high and we can attach the name of your loved one onto the tail and we send it up with the kite. If you want to honour someone in your family this year, come on up,” Allen explained.