Morecambe Bay is the perfect setting for a kite festival with its huge skies and the panoramic backdrop of the Lakeland hills. The festival provides opportunities for visitors as well as local people to experience the breath taking natural beauty of Morecambe, alongside a vibrant programme of excellent cultural activities. There's music and dancing to suit every taste and the best street entertainment we can find along with music workshops, environmental installations, hands on making workshops and a full weekend of diverse music and entertainment. Working with our friends in the kite-flying world we will bring spectacular aerial displays of beautiful kites, every year there is something new and astonishing. The kites are flown by professional fliers on the beaches and beside them are hundreds of of people – children, teenagers and families – fly their own kites enjoying the thrill of connecting with the elements.

What we'll deliver:

• Keep the kite festival free for 2023
• Performance opportunities for professional musicians
• Performance opportunities for More Music Groups
• Creative workshops for children and young people
• A safe and family friendly environmental event for the community
• A diverse and multi cultural programme of music and street theatre

Why it's a great idea:

Catch the Wind is one of the most popular events in the local festival calendar and also the longest running. It enjoys a high profile, being fantastically photogenic and has featured in publications far and wide, a photograph of last year’s event appeared in the Indian Times (having been picked up by the Associated Press), and on TV promoting Morecambe and the district. It offers wonderful opportunities for local people, and increasing numbers of visitors to the district, to enjoy our beautiful town, it contains elements that appeal to all members of the public - kite flying, excellent street theatre, workshops and music. It provides employment for local people, it generates business for the economy, it offers a platform for diverse and emerging artists, it showcases and maximises the natural beauty of the bay, it is accessible and provides great art for everyone.

Steps to get it done:

• Announce our programme of music and creative activity by mid May
• Announce match funding

The kite flying is led by a professional group of flyers from the north west of England and highlights the beauty of the bay with a range of big and small kites that can be seen for miles. The excellent hands on workshop programme allows children and their families to engage in a wide range of creative and physical activity over the weekend –all of which are offered for free. We work with local artists and makers and community partners with sessions that include anything from windsock making, puppetry, painting, sculpture, poi, circus skills, music and dance. This year we will focus on the environment and the natural world, and utilise found and recycled materials. We will work with partner organisations that raise awareness of environmental and climate change issues . Performances feature local professional bands and soloists, alongside touring diverse world music artists and the best community bands and young performers from More Music projects.