It's now more than 20 years since the first ever Kite Festival and with the successes of previous years, how could you miss this one? Taking place in the Northern Area Playing Fields at the Northumbria Centre in Washington, the Kite Festival will offer many colourful and exciting kite exhibitions over the first weekend in July. The KitemanOrganising a kite festival of this scale takes about six months - with professional kite flyers from Japan, China, USA, India, Ghana and many countries in Europe coming, it takes a lot of organising.  | | You never know just what you might see |
Malcolm Goodman is known, on the kite circuit, as the Kite Man and has been the kite organiser at the event, which attracts some 70,000 people, since the start in 1986. BBC Wear caught up with him before the big Sunderland Kite Festival and we just have to ask him - which year has been the best? "I would have to say the last one, it's always the last one!" So which was the worst one? "Two years ago, the event was rained off which was very disappointing. Kite flying can take place in every weather and all the kite flyers went to Bamburgh Castle to at least make the trip worth while. It was a shame that the public missed that." Malcolm believes the reason the Sunderland International Kite Festival constantly brings in new people wanting to travel here and fly their kites, is the friendly atmosphere and the good reputation - this is a festival for both professionals and the public. What's on?During this coming weekend, visitors will be treated to all sorts of aerodynamic acrobatics by the national and international kiters. You might want to make sure you catch the altitude competition where the kite flyers compete to take their kite to the highest point in the sky within a set time or see and hear the European flying squad display team perform precision kite flying to music.  | | Bell & Bullock at last year's festival |
There will be a unique exhibition on show at the festival this year. The People's Air Gallery include kites produced during a community based project in Sunderland. The kites have been created using recycled materials, which sounds very exciting - you might get some ideas of your own on what to do with those plastic milk bottles! In addition to all these fantastic sky performances, you will also be able to catch some global live music by performers from Guinea, Zimbabwe, Rajasthan and Scotland to name just a few. | 
