So – were you as good this year as our kites were? Then surely Santa (or Grandpa Frost, or whatever chthonic creature of the night that judges you) will be delighted with you and shower you with amazing presents!
Because this year our kites really went above and beyond their usual. Eleven kite festivals visited. Twenty three beautiful and interesting places photographed. Sixty four (!) flydays – more than one per week! They were true rock stars this year and got some well-deserved cheers:
Kite year 2024 started, as usual, in India. We flew above Ahmedabad, the great white desert of Kutch, the beaches of Goa, and then in Belagavi, Nipani and Hubbali. In March our dear Sandro dragged us all the way to Spotorno, then Fillipo and the team created an immense spectacle in Jesolo, then the girls of Tunisia almost stole Viktor, we partied hard in the town of O., we were a part of the incredible Medieval feast in Urbino, we hopped to Cervia to fly with the pirates, and ended our festival year on the island of Prvić.
We took kite aerial photos of white deserts, of swamps, oceans, churches, lighthouses, smithies, river deltas, manors, islands, karst lakes … we even flew the camera over the centre of Ljubljana!
We stole the show at the Tour of Slovenia cycling race, we turned Maribor into a city of kites, and we taught promising young people the most important skill there is: making kites.
So many fantastic moments, so many meetings with friends, so many fantastic stories of 2024 …
And ten of these stories, the ones you liked best, are here again. Enjoy, and happy 2025!
Ivor, Janez, Gregor, Jerneja, Sergeja in Saša
KAP Jasa – kite team Slovenia
10 most read kite stories of 2024
10th place: a new Monster in our Fleet
Less is more, but more is even more, they say – so we couldn’t say no to thus huge manta kite, the latest addition to our fleet. Yes, the great kite buyers vs. kite makers debate rages on, but this monster is a crowd-pleaser, and eye candy, and a beast to fly!
9th place: a festival in Tunisia
A beautiful international kite festival in hot Tunis, where Viktor really excelled – so much they didn’t want him to go home!
8th place: Spotorno!
Dear Sandro and the 30 Kite Club – your festival is amazing, and it will never be too far for us!
7th place: the oldest working lighthouse in the Adriatic
Built in 1818 on the order of Emperor Francis I., this venerable lighthouse still safely guides ships around the westernmost cape of Istria.
6th place: bears on the beach and bears in the town
It’s simple, really: fly hard, party hard, KAP hard. The town of O. (we are not allowed to mention its name, sorry), the emerald green river delta, the beach full of kites, the Čikarijada competition … A small group of great friends, the best time ever!
5th place: reset brains and flying hearts
Oh Prvić, the island at the end of Summer … what a fantastic weekend we had again here, on this tranquil island full of beauty. A kite-making workshop and a festival, and a sublime flight above the pearl of Šibenik archipelago.
4th place: Jesolo!
What Filippo and his team did in Jesolo for the second year in a row is nothing short of amazing. A huge – huge! – kite festival in a town that understands how tourism works!
🥉 Bronze medal: a kite festival and a Medieval feast 🥉
This kite festival – Festa dell’Aquilone in Urbino – is not a kite festival as we know them. It’s a palio, a Medieval ritual fight among the contradas that ends in a spectacular Medieval feast!
🥈 Silver medal: Sipar, an island full of history 🥈
It used to be an island, now it’s a peninsula. It used to be a bustling, rich Roman town, now it’s a set of spectacular ruins. Sipar, an archaeological site in Istria with 4 distinct phases of use, starting in 1st century BC and ending in 876.
And the winner of 2024 is …
🏆 🥇 India! India! India! India! 🥇 🏆
What can we say. Four long articles we published – the crazy circus, the fantastic atmosphere, the incredible time, the dangers (of not wanting to come back home) – can’t really convey even a bit of the overwhelming wave of everything that is India. From our beloved Ahmedabad to the Great Rann of Kutch, from the beaches of Goa to Belagavi, to Nipani and Hubbali … What can we say but that we shall return – in a couple of weeks!
Yeah!
This concludes the 10 best of 2024 – with hope that the kite stories of 2025 will be even better.
Thank you all, may the winds be good to you, and happy 2025!
Fantastic pictures, souvenirs, kites, events…life under a kite is trully beautiful, thanks for sharing the fun…it is addictive !!!!
Thank you, Pierre! 🙂
Nice photos! Congratulations on your activity ! Balázs
Thank you! 🙂