Thousands flock to coast for kite festival

Tens of thousands of people have flocked to the coast for a kite festival in Lancashire.

The opening day of the annual three-day St Annes International Kite Festival was disrupted by 40mph winds on Friday.

However, the wind dropped for the last two days of what organisers say is the UK's biggest kite festival.

The skies have been awash with displays from more than 200 kite fliers from all over the world, including Australia and the US, and a new art trail bringing shop windows to life with kite design created by local school children.

The free event is a partnership between Fylde Council and kite fliers SmileFactor10, with support from St Annes Town Council.

Fylde Council said it had been an "incredible" weekend for the town.

The authority's head of tourism Tim Dixon said unfortunately it was "too windy" to go ahead on Friday.

"These are huge kites so if it is over 30mph with gusts it is really challenging and on safety grounds you cannot be on the end of a line with a 50ft kite up in the sky," he said.

But since the weather improved Dixon said the festival had been a "tremendous success, with tens of thousands of visitors enjoying the fantastic colourful spectacle produced by kite flier teams from all over the world".

"The town has been very busy and it's great to see so many visitors enjoy this fantastic family event at the British seaside," he added.

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