Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Parents and several kids launch their kites at the Kiddies Kite Festival at Mona Heights community centre, St. Andrew, on Saturday. - ANDREW SMITH/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
SOMEWHERE IN the mid Saturday afternoon, the organisers of 'Let It Fly', the Kiddies Kite Festival at the Mona community centre, St. Andrew, ran out of kites.
There was no need for those caught low and grounded in the shortfall to ask why, a simple tilt of the head skywards giving the multi-hued answer.
The imported, quiet kites which lofted on the sometimes steady wind, others staying grounded when there was more enthusiasm than skill or breeze, left aural room for a steady diet of uptempo music, mostly dancehall. Wayne Marshall and Spragga Benz on the 'Applause' rhythm and Sean Paul burning away thumping from the small, mounted speakers which delivered impressive volume, formed the soundtrack for flights of triumph which sent kites skywards and flights of fancy which left them grounded.
And although it was supposedly a kiddies affair, the not so young and the young with very ageing tickers had more than their fair share of the string-pulling action.
As a twin-engined plane buzzed disdainfully above the highest kite, one young lady stood on a rock to get an orange and blue craft heightened elevation for take-off. She let it go, her ground crew colleague tugging, and it fell haplessly to the ground.
A bounce-about in one corner shook with the enthusiasm of some youngsters, a nearby swing sending others airborne for a split second, the arc of the swing close to the bow of the string for the very few, very high kites, which were large blots against the afternoon sky, backlit by a blazing sun.
FEW TANGLES
There were a few tangles but no obvious flare-ups among the enthusiasts, disco hitting with Upside Down and rock and roll swinging away as two girls in purple tops and jeans skirts chased a kite that had tugged its ball of string loose from a young hand, the getaway plastic bird falling back to earth after a brief, beautiful total freedom.
I've Got The Power blasted from the speakers as the breeze, which had died down, picked back up. Ken Hamilton, who won the 'Best Local Kite' and 'Best Overall Kite' prizes, had lots of power in his craft, with an adult Flemming sent his tethered bird flying higher than anyone else at the Mona community centre on Saturday.
There were only a few kites up when I'm Coming Up was played, but there was a burst of renewed activity shortly after, one boy running hard to send a green, long-tailed, snaky number snaking skyward.
With the gate prize drawn and duly won and 'Let It Fly' heading towards its 6:00 p.m. close, the breeze changed direction and a flight of similar motif kites inclined towards Hope Gardens, Kung Fu Fighting accompanying an exodus from the grounds.
And a few coloured tails in a fir tree on the ground told the tale of fanciful flights, the disco of Celebration sending many home.
