St Annes Kite Festival - everything you need to know including dates, times, facilities, travel and weather
Everything you need to know about St Annes Kite Festival.
The award-winning St Annes International Kite Festival returns in September 2026, bringing colourful kites, international teams, entertainment and family activities to the town's seafront.
The festival is a unique partnership between Fylde Council and kite fliers SmileFactor10, with ongoing support from St Annes Town Council. Kite teams from across the UK and beyond will take to the skies above St Annes beach throughout the weekend.
The dates have been selected around suitable tides, with safety being a key consideration for the event.
When is the St Annes Kite Festival?
The 2026 festival takes place from Friday, September 4 to Sunday, September 6.
The planned kite-flying times are:
- Friday, September 4: 12 noon to 10pm, including illuminated kite flying in the evening.
- Saturday, September 5: 11am to 5pm. The fairground will continue operating into the evening.
- Sunday, September 6: 11am to 4pm.
The event is weather dependent and the programme may be changed without notice for safety reasons.
What can visitors expect?
The skies above St Annes seafront will be filled with colourful display kites, with the main flying taking place on the beach adjacent to St Annes Pier. There will be five flying arenas on the beach. One of these is outside the dog control zone, meaning visitors with dogs can get closer to some of the kite action.
Friday evening will feature illuminated kite flying, providing a particularly striking spectacle as the kites take to the sky after dark. There will also be a fairground on the beach, alongside food and drink stalls on the Promenade.
Visitors are encouraged to explore St Annes town centre for further refreshments, or bring their own picnic.
Artisan market
A new addition for 2026 is an artisan market in the Promenade Gardens. The market will be run by Bespoke Events North West and will take place on Saturday and Sunday from 11am.
Visitors will be able to browse stalls featuring locally sourced food, drink and gifts, with traders located in the gardens adjacent to the Promenade, opposite the St Ives Hotel and Inn on the Prom Hotel.
St Annes International Kite Festival Art Trail
The festival will also extend into the heart of St Annes through a new art trail. Visitors can explore 15 shop windows around the town centre featuring colourful kite designs created by pupils from local primary schools and hand-painted by community art studio Durose Studios.
The trail is free and self-guided. Participants can collect a map from the Discover Fylde bus on St Annes Promenade or from any of the participating businesses. They can then explore the 15 locations and look for hidden letters.
Those who find all the letters can enter a prize draw to win a kite hamper by handing their completed leaflet to the Discover Fylde bus or Pot Bound during the festival weekend. The trail runs from Friday, September 4 to Sunday, September 6 and offers visitors another reason to explore beyond the main beach event.
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Facilities at the festival
A range of facilities will be available during the event, including an information point, lost children point, lost property and security desk. A first aid team will also be constantly patrolling the event.
Additional event toilets will be provided, including disabled facilities. Further disabled toilets are available at the swimming pool on the Promenade. Additional bins and a litter-picking team will also be in operation.
Visitors should be aware that there is a dog exclusion zone either side of St Annes Pier, running from the RNLI ramp to the North Promenade car park beach entrance.
Getting to the festival
Visitors travelling by car are being encouraged to plan ahead, with the seafront expected to be busy. Additional event parking will be available on South Promenade, adjacent to Fairhaven Road Car Park, with space for up to 600 cars.
The postcode is FY8 1NW. The event parking is strictly for daytime use, with no overnight parking permitted. Visitors are strongly advised to research alternative town centre car parks in advance to avoid congestion around the seafront.
The town centre also has additional parking and toilets, while its shops, cafés and restaurants provide plenty of options away from the main festival area.
Travelling by train: The festival is also easily accessible by rail. St Annes-on-the-Sea railway station is around a five-minute walk through the town centre to the beach. The station is served by the South Fylde line from Preston, making travelling by train an alternative to driving and parking near the seafront.
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Exploring St Annes
Organisers are encouraging visitors not to limit their trip to the beach and Promenade. St Annes town centre is around 100 yards from the pier and offers a range of independent shops, cafés and restaurants.
Visitors can also explore Ashton Gardens, which includes the popular Pavilion. With the town centre, artisan market and art trail all forming part of the wider festival experience, there will be plenty to see away from the main kite displays.
Weather and safety
The St Annes International Kite Festival is entirely weather dependent. The planned programme may be changed without notice where necessary for safety reasons. The festival dates have been selected with the planned tides in mind, helping to support the safe running of the event.
With kite teams travelling from across the UK and beyond, illuminated displays, an artisan market, an art trail and activities for families, the 2026 St Annes International Kite Festival promises to turn the town's seafront and surrounding areas into a colourful celebration of kite flying.