Soaring on a string of colour, creativity

Thousands of people flocked to Zandvlei, near Muizenberg, where the annual Cape Town International Kite Festival was held at the weekend. Funds raised at the event, which is Africa's biggest kite festival, will go towards helping Cape Mental Health provide vital services to adults and children in disadvantaged communities. Besides kite-flying, the crowds enjoyed a number of activities which included food stalls, crafts and kite-making workshops. The specialist Swaeltjie workshop taught people how to make their own traditional Cape Swallow kite. On Saturday, children from local primary schools and schools for pupils with special educational needs participated in the annual Edukite Competition, where they decorated blank kites with their interpretation of the festival's theme, "Beyond the Blue". This weekend's festival was preceded by a kite-flying event in Heideveld, on the Cape Flats, last week when several international kite-flyers gathered to display their skills. Pictures by Jeffrey Abrahams