Events

Karl, his wife Sara and fellow Hereford-based kite builder Peter Taylor (www.airdynamics.co.uk) are sponsors and organisers of the Herefordshire Kite Festival held at The National Trust, Berrington Hall, the third weekend in July (www.kitefestival.org.uk).

Karl receives invitations to kite festivals all over the world; in January 2010 he and Sara took his kites to Ahmedabad and Mangalore in India, followed by Cha Am in Thailand in March. They were in Berck sur Mer in France for nine days in April closely followed by ten days in Cervia, Italy. Both Cap Chat and Dieppe in Canada are arranged plus Dieppe in France with at least one other weekend festival in France.

Both he and Sara try to attend as many festivals in the UK as possible too, their first being Swindon this year. They have accepted invitations from Bedford, Wirral, Sunderland, Brighton and Bristol, plus they have their own festival in Herefordshire.

At the Wirral Kite Festival in June 2009 Karl and Sara took first and second place respectively in the Edwardian Kite Competition, where their kites were flown for an hour and judged on their angle of flight and stability. In Hardelot, France in September Karl was awarded first prize in the Creative Kite Competition for his pair of doves.

Cape Town, October 2009.

Cape Town Kite Festival is organised by Cape Mental Health and two days before the main festival we flew our kites for the local children in Khayelitsha.

Sara with the local children in Khayelitsha

Bristol, September 2008.

Karl was asked by the BBC Blue Peter team to design a shield shaped kite that could be flown on its own or as a stack of fifty. Here he is being helped by the presenters Joel, Helen and Andy.

The idea of 50 kites was to help celebrate 50 years of the programme.

Mangalore, January 2008

There were so many people on the beach at Mangalore, it was difficult to see the sand.

Gallery Exhibitions

Karls's kites have featured in a number of exhibitions.

Brunel Centre, Swindon. December 2006

Angel Kites by Karl Longbottom, Angel Sculpture by Carl Robertshaw.

(Photo taken by Carl and reproduced with his permission)

Scunthorpe

Kites by Karl Longbottom, Franchesca Caton, Carl Robertshaw and Michael Goddard.

Hereford


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