Kite Fest

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Another kudo for Dublin City Council, Kite Fest at Dollymount Strand on Dublin's Northside (22/6/2014).

The rotating snake kite (above), held aloft by an inflated Tweety Bird, must surely have been the star of the show.

There were some mean kite flyers too, as this "Red Arrows" display shows.

And you can forget the swimming, this synchronised kite flying was something to behold, and the speed of it.

We were even treated to a "Dogfight over Dollymount" at one stage.

All the while, responding to slight wind shifts, the snake was changing shape at a rate of knots, so to speak.

The newly elected Lord Mayor, Christy Burke, got to "fly a kite". Well, at least as a photo op.

And he got to start a kiddies kite race from the top of a van, in the company of Deric Hartigan, who was one of the two MCs for the day.

This one proved a slight embarrassment, as, when invited to do the countown to the start of the race, the boul Christy unexpectedly did it as Gaeilge, and there wasn't a stir at the starting line. So he had to do it again as Béarla this time, and away they went. Says something about something, that does.

Didn't take a feather out of Christy though. He was too preoccupied dealing with his vertigo mounting, sitting on top of, and descending from the high van roof. Fair dues.

Meanwhile, up the Sutton end, this young lady is quietely reaching for the heavens: ad astra.

Amazingly, the profusion of high flying, high performing, kites didn't lead to a single air crash. Congratulations to all concerned.

Congratulations too to one of the stars of the show, the tireless creature who held aloft the rotating snake for the whole afternoon without so much as a complaint.

The weather was ideal. A consistent medium wind.

And where else would you get it raining cats and dogs from a clear blue sky (broken only by the occasional white cloud - as we used to write in our school examination essays).