Description:
Want to paint the sky? Kite making workshops leading up to the Otaki Kite Festival invite participants to get colourful with their own designs.
The increasingly popular festival returns on the weekend of March 5 and 6, with four workshops teaching construction methods, and providing a canvas in the sky.
International kite makers Mikio Toki, from Japan, and Tony Rice, from Australia, will lead workshops, along with internationally-recognised Otaki-based kite maker Yvonne de Mille, who helped launch the festival in 2013.
Toki is a proponent of the Edo-Kaku-Dako kites, a rectangle kite made from Japanese paper and bamboo and emblazoned with intricate Japanese-graphics to give a "stained glass window effect" when the kite is flown.
His workshop will teach how to make an orizome kaku dako, fold and dye Tokyo style kite.
Brisbane-based kite maker Tony Rice will be teaching how to make a type of Indian dart fighter kite, made with nylon that is painted with designs before the kite is assembled.
De Mille will show how to make kites shaped as swallows, that are created almost totally from recycled materials.
Festival-goers are invited to bring their own kites to fly during the festival, and a special time and section has been set aside especially for kites made during the workshops, coordinator Barbara Franks said.
"So the public can enjoy what they’ve been working on.
"With each of the kite makers specialising in different types of kites, people can expect to see some amazing creations flying high."
This year’s festival will be accompanied by a wide range of stalls and entertainment, including fun activities for children. A Kite Doctor’s stall will allow people to bring their kite in for advice about how to make it fly better, or fix it.
A shuttle bus has also been introduced, and will run from Waikanae station to the festival and back, stopping in Te Horo, State Highway 1 Otaki, and at the library.
Last year, Franks sa
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