Plans revealed to bring a kite festival back to Morecambe

Thursday, 20 February 2025 21:41

By Greg Lambert @greglam72

Kites flying above Morecambe beach at a 'Catch the Wind' festival

Morecambe looks set to have a kite festival again this summer after the town council revealed plans to resurrect it.

Morecambe Town Council will run its own kite festival later this year, it was announced on Thursday.

The annual 'Catch the Wind' festival of kites flying over Morecambe Promenade was axed in 2024 after 20 years.

But the town council said it had been in talks about running a similar event in 2025.

Speaking at a meeting on Thursday, Luke Trevaskis, chief officer of Morecambe Town Council, said: "There was a lot of disappointment last year when the kite festival didn't go ahead.

"We have been liaising with ('Catch the Wind' organisers) More Music, not to replicate their event, but so we will see kites in the sky at least once a year."

The 'Catch the Wind' festival, which celebrated its 20th birthday in 2023, traditionally pulled thousands to the Promenade, to fly kites, spectate and enjoy music and other activities.

But More Music, the community music charity based in the West End, announced last year that due to the "arts funding climate" it could no longer go ahead.

News of a return for a kite festival in Morecambe will be a boost to the town's festivals season, following news that Vintage by the Sea is not going ahead this year.

Plans for a kite festival are part of an increased Morecambe Town Council events and festivals budget for 2025/26, the biggest in the parish council's 17 year history.

At Thursday night's meeting held at Morecambe Town Hall, councillors approved a budget of £63,000 in grants to be awarded to event and festival organisers in 2025/26, as well as £63,000 towards running the council's own events. The budget also includes £25,000 as part of an already-agreed three-year funding package for the annual Baylight light art festival.

Mr Trevaskis said plans for the kite festival and the increased events spend were among "three exciting things" in this year's budget.

The others, he said, were the setting aside of £20,000 towards the cost of a potential overnight ban on campervan and motorhome parking on Morecambe Promenade, and the return of spring public flower bed planting to the town.

But in order to deliver these services and maintain others, the town council's share of Council tax will rise by 4.09 per cent year-on-year.

"The reason for the rate increase is that we are looking to provide additional support and services to the community," said Councillor Clark Kent, chairman of the council's finance and governance committee.

"We're looking to bring the kite festival back to Morecambe, not as it was with Catch the Wind, but to bring something back as a festival to Morecambe, and fund it. To do this, we need to provide some small increase to provide these services, and I think we've done it in the best way we can.

"It's something where we are going to work closely with More Music. It's not going to mirror the previous event, we want do so something different.

"It was a big event that we lost, there was an outcry in the local community. We are looking to do more events as a town council."

More on this year's Morecambe Town Council budget HERE.