St Annes Kite Festival is back this weekend - here is what you need to know

This event over the weekend of September 3 to 5, hosted by Fylde Council and kite fliers SmileFactor10, with support from St Annes Town Council, has been organised against the backdrop of the pandemic which saw it not held in 2020 and with safety in mind is being held in rather different form to previous years.

There will be no performance stage, no evening flying on Friday, nor Friday night fireworks which it is hoped will return in 2022.

Kite flying times have been extended by using the Friday afternoon and three flying arenas will be in use, rather than the normal two.

There will be a small fairground on the beach, plus a limited number of food and drink stalls on the Promenade, additional toilets and a specialised fully accessible toilet.

Subject to the weather conditions being right, kite flying is planned to take place on Friday afternoon, once the set up has been completed, Saturday from 11am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm.

There will be a one way traffic system in operation each day on the Promenade from St Annes Road West to East Bank Road and there will be additional event parking signposted to the south of Fairhaven Road car park. Access to the additional parking will be off South Promenade rather than the normal route in from Fairhaven Road car park.

At North Beach, St Anne’s Landyacht Club will be hosting a come and try session on Saturday (11 to 5) and Sunday (11 to 4) for the Mini class of land yacht and will be well controlled and marshalled by the club and located well away form the kite flying area.

It's all free and event manager Tim Dixon said: ”We have planned for a great event with something for all the family.

"We are putting on a great event at a time when festivals and large scale events are returning nationwide, and while there is some obvious caution to be mindful of we feel by spreading the kites out over a wider space with an additional flying zone, plus a limited number of stalls on the Promenade, that we can reduce any pinch points.

"RNLI / Coastguard access will be available at all times and they have been consulted throughout the event planning process.”

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