3274 Flying a kite - URGENT

Castiglione del Lago (A1 autostrada exit either Val di Chiana or Chiusi) annually hosts a kite flying contest - international stuff, including mongolfier balloons, plus the usual sagra food and typical gastronomic stands. Some of the kites approach 60 sq metres in surface area, serious stuff - professionals come from China and points further east!!
It is all held on an old airfield, so even with a big crowd (size of crowd will be closely correlated with the weather, as always) there is plenty of space to picnic or run about.
I say urgent, because it is about to happen! On 29 April we are promised kites and balloons in the afternoon, and "gonfiaggio notturno mongolfiere".
On 30 April we have bigger and better kites and balloons, still with the "blowing up at night stuff" - I presume this is pretty spectacular after dark, with the hot air burners' flames illuminating the skins of the balloons.
1 May we have more kites, but I think the show closes at about 21.00.
A completely unmissable has to be the "esibizione di buggy trainati da aquiloni" - once you know that "trainati" means "towed", you realise what a simple language Italian is..... and yes, in Italian a kite is an eagle (hope there are no fussy ornithologists on the forum!)

Category
Do & See

Well - you missed it - and the wind wasn't quite up to flying the real biggies, but attached is a snap of a kite or two! As ever, a wonderful Italian outing entertaining the eighty plus brigade, with supporting cast from pushchairs through teenagers - and four km traffic jams....I'm glad I knew the rat routes and the dubious parking spaces!!

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