“No, no, put the kite down …”
– Patrizio, at the height of the kite festival in Urbino
Imagine a kite festival – an international kite festival! – where kite flyers – international kite flyers! – play the second fiddle … if that.
Where in the middle of the second day of the festival (usually the best day, with the best wind and the biggest crowds) everyone stop caring about show kites, about all the immense flying monsters, intricate aerial sculptures, colourful riders of the wind – and turn all their attention to … small paper kites?
Yeah. That would be Festa del’Aquilone in Urbino. Yet every kiter who was lucky enough to be there would wholeheartedly agree with that.
Because in Urbino, we international kite showmakers are merely sidekicks.
And rightly so.
Because there is no kite festival like this, anywhere, ever.
As there is no Urbino but Urbino.
But we’ll come to that – we shall begin with the international kite festival that was a part of this year’s Festa dell’Aquilone …
And we have so much to tell and so much to show that we had to split this report into two parts!
After a looong drive from Ljubljana (we keep asking ourselves is it remotely sane to drive for seven and a half hours (and seven and a half back) for a day or so of kite flying, and keep answering “no, it is not sane, but neither are we”), we arrived in the province of Marche in the late afternoon.
Our place to stay, our Urbinian kite base, an Agriturismo, was … well, see for yourself:
On Saturday, still exhausted from the drive, we came to the kite field just after lunch (missing an Italian lunch is a big mistake!) and went straight to flying kites in 38 degrees in the shade. And here was no shade on the kite field.
We settled down …
… and let the wind take the kites up!
Coming back to Urbino – we were here last year – feels like coming home, or at least to a warm, welcoming, beautiful, and fun place. That is due to many reasons, but the first and foremost is the hospitality of Luca Ovarelli, Izzy, and the fantastic organising team …and of course the Mayor of Urbino signor Maurizio Gambini, and the Vice-mayoress, Giulia Volponi!
And as with every festival, it’s all about the friends you meet here and the friends you make here. Livio, Roberto, signor Alberto, Patrizio, Vladimiro, Daura, Anronio, Emanuela, Gianluca, Dario, Nadia, Franco, Nicola, Maurizio, Michaela, Stefano, Virginia, Walter, Werther, and all the rest who flew kites in Urbino and made this year’s Festa so great …
… and of course the amazing MCs who had the party going from early morning to late night. Bravo, Bianca and Luca!
The 69th Festa dell’Aquilone was on!
The international part of the festival was expanded this year – as along us came Erwin from Austria, Wissal and the team from Tunisia, and Wiyada Gongsri from Thailand.
It was a fantastic experience yet again; flying kites in the hills of Marche, with views of Urbino, the pearl of the Renaissance, having so much fun …
Unfortunately we couldn’t have our signature kite, the Proteus Maximus, with us – but we had another monster in our bag, a giant manta kite. It was only her second kite festival, so we are apologising in advance for the fact that most of the photos will feature it (we are like those proud parents shoving the pictures of their baby into everyone’s faces).
And it wasn’t even the only manta on the field!
And it threw a tantrum and didn’t want to fly unless asked really nicely …
And we forgot about the fact that the Urbino’s kite field of Parco delle Cesane is actually a kite flying hill. The gusts of wind coming from the Adriatic and the turbulence created by the gently rolling hills of Marche made flying the monster … interesting. Funny, even – at least for the spectators, not so much for us, our hands and fingers ..
Hot and windy Urbino.
We had yet again a thoroughly successful, enjoyable, and fun kite flying day … and a half.
And then Sergeja, Ivor, and Mila had to leave, and Gregor and Saša were left alone, facing Urbino ventoso, surrounded by Urbinati armed to their teeth …
… with kites.
“No, no, put the kite down!”
“…?”
“They will release their kites now!”
“Yes, that’s the point, we want to shoot that from up there!”
“You don’t understand … it’s not appropriate to fly your kite now, and in any case their kites will overwhelm yours and it will crash.”
Ok, we reeled the kite down, somewhat reluctantly, and waited for the action. Surely Patrizio was overreacting, right?
Wrong.
This is the only kite aerial photo we made, and it shows the contradas of Urbino lined up to launch their kites. This is the moment the real Festa dell’Aquilone starts.
And it’s very very serious.
Now we have to talk about Urbino, its contradas, and kites.
And we will do that … next time.
Stay tuned for Part Two of this report, in which you will …
– see more of this!
– learn about the Renaissance!
– get to know the contradas of Urbino!
– be a part of a Medieval feast!
– meet the winners of Il grande trofeo Città di Urbino!
– learn a poem about kites … and much much more!
Till next time! 🙂
A very nice reportage of fantastic days in Urbino. It has been wonderful seeing you, and we looking forward to meeting again next year.
Stefano and Ema
Thank you so much, Stefano and Ema – and hope to see you soon! 🙂
Bellissimo reportage di questa festa a cui noi di Partenope fly abbiamo partecipato per la prima volta. Siamo rimasti talmente entusiasti che non vediamo l’ora di partecipare alla prossima. Urbino è meravigliosa e vista dalla terrazza panoramica colorata con tanti aquiloni è apparsa ancora più bella. Arrivederci Urbino
Grazie mille, Virginia – spero di vedervi presto! 🙂
The evening pix reminds me at the old buildings in Gubbio 🤗
Worth to visit Urbino – but 1.500 km (oneway!) rather far 🤔
It’s far, right … but more than worth the trip!