Our first Kite Festival with National Trust NI

While looking for family days out and after a quick google search of fun days out with the family, I came across a Kite Festival with the National Trust. Perfect! And to make it even better, it is held at Downhill Demesne and Hezlett House, which is in our favourite place, Castlerock. 

What did surprise me though, is that this year, 2018, will be the 8th year the Kite Festival will be put on. It’s 8th year! And we had only just heard about it – how wrong is that! So we hopped on a train – with our kite packed – to see what a kite festival is all about. 

National Trust Kite Festival

Once we arrived at the base of the Black Glen, we could already see the huge kites flying over the trees on the hill – it was just me & my girls heading to the kite festival – but the WOW’s & the points to the giant lizard in the sky was amazing. We were still quite a distance away from Downhill Demense, so we knew up close, the kites were going to look incredible. 

So much to see & do!

The kites were absolutely HUGE! I have never seen anything like it. And for them to be flying in – to me – the most unlikely of places was a sight to see. There weren’t just the kites. There were food stalls, bungee trampolines, inflatables and so much more. As soon as Annabelle spied the non-powered glider, she made a bee-line for it and loved being able to sit inside the cockpit. 

Annabelle being Annabelle and channelling her gutsy attitude when asked if she’d like to do a super jump during our family holiday in Haven. She asked the guy if she could do one – and he obliged! She loved it and I think I can now officially say that she is an adrenaline junkie. 

Inside the walls of Downhill Demesne was a petting farm – that I could not get my teenager out of. She is crazy for anything animal-related. I think our recent visit to the Animal Farm Adventure Park in Somerset made that quite clear. So while Ellie was in her element stroking continental bunnies and gushing over a snoozy chinchilla, Annabelle went into the craft tent & made her own kite. 

Arts & Crafts near Hezlett House

After the crafts, we did a little more exploring and I don’t know about anyone else’s children, but my youngest cannot pass a face painter without getting her face painted. Unbeknown to her, it was Pride day and I just adore that she got a rainbow unicorn rather than the plain pink & purple option. 

After the kite crafting and petting everything with feathers or fur. It was time to join the skyline of kites with our own. However, ours was tiny compared to the other kites that were being flown. So the girls have already requested that we invest in a bigger kite for next years festival and I have to say, I agree!

I have my eye on a Dementor one from Harry Potter, though – which may scare small children, but I just think it would look so majestic billowing in the wind above the castle. 

We definitely should have brought more than one kite – you can imagine the “It’s MY turn!”, “No, I’ve only had it for 2 minutes” that went on. But, this was our first time at this event, so I’ll know better for next year.

Overall thoughts…

I cannot believe this was the first time we knew about this event. The fact it’s been running for 8yrs this year is amazing. They had everything from food & drink stalls, stunt kites showing off their aerobatics, crepe stands and they even had portaloo’s on-site, too. We really did have a great time at the festival but can get expensive. You’ll need to bring cash with you because there are no ATM machines available, due to the location.

I have 3 younger children, so when it costs £4 for 5mins on a bungee trampoline, it adds up! Not to leave out the £3 for face painting, £3 for a glitter tattoo and so on. So do bear that in mind. The crafts & petting zoo were free, though. 

We learned a lot from attending this years event and we are already looking forward to next years. It’s definitely a place to bring a good old-fashioned picnic too. Spread out a blanket and let the kids fly their kites then lay back and enjoy the view. All of those coloured kites of all shapes & sizes, flying in the air is something else. 

If you enjoyed this post, then you might also enjoy our Bodyboarding adventures in Castlerock as well! A really fun activity to get the kids involved with, especially if you’re beach lovers like us!

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