Kites — Berck-sur-Mer, 40th

• Giants of the sky

  Octopuses, teddy bears, dragons, owls, whales… "mega-structures" as big as houses that change with the wind.

• The octopus record

  Kite flyers try to fly about forty octopuses at the same time: a world record, if the wind agrees!

• Kite ballets

  Pilots hold 2 or 4 lines and make their kites dance to music — alone, in pairs or in teams.

• The Garden of Aeolus

  Hundreds of flowers that grow out of the sand and spin in the wind, all made from recycled materials.

• Workshops

  Kids build their own kite with helpers, then get a free first lesson at the flying school.

• Fireworks

  One evening, a big fireworks show lights up the beach and tells a story to music.

1. 1888

   Arthur Batut hangs a camera under a kite: one of the very first photos ever taken from the sky.

2. Late 1800s

   Émile Wenz does the same on Berck beach. It becomes the most photographed place from the air before the First World War.

3. 1987

   Belgian kite flyers, who celebrated those photos every spring, hold a "Centenary Festival": the gathering is born.

4. 2027

   Forty editions later, Berck calls itself the "world capital of kites" and celebrates 40 years of poetry and magic.

The 40th anniversary poster

On the official poster of the town of Berck-sur-Mer, seen from above, kites draw a big "40": rokkakus, rays, dragons, octopuses, whales, butterflies, fish and funny birds, with the Garden of Aeolus and the beach hut. Sky blue stands for gentleness and freedom, fuchsia pink for creativity. Our sky is inspired by it!

See the poster on the town's website Enlarge the poster

• The harbour seal

  A round head, like a little dog, and a spotted coat.

• The grey seal

  Bigger, with a long, straight snout.

• The 300-metre rule

  On foot, stay at least 300 m away from seals (100 m by boat) and watch them with binoculars. When they are disturbed they flee into the water — and a pup can lose its mother.

• The bookmark trick

  Punch a small hole in a bookmark and stretch out your arm: if the seal doesn't fit inside the hole, you are too close. Step back!

• A seal pup all alone?

  Don't go near it and don't touch it: its mother is often close by. If you are worried, ask a grown-up to tell someone.

• And the owl?

  On the 40th anniversary poster, owl kites watch over the beach. Feather, our owl, is one of them: she's waiting for you at the Memory game!

• 

  Paz

  the Pas-de-Calais mascot

  Cheerful and warm, Paz is proud of her département and its 887 towns and villages. Her name comes from "patz", an old French word for "strait" — the Strait of Dover, the "Pas de Calais" that gave the département its name — and it means "peace" in Spanish. She took over from Bijou, the Boulonnais horse.

• 

  Tom

  the kite builder

  Tom always has a piece of string in his pocket. His dream: to fly a kite he built himself at the festival.

• 

  Lila

  the pilot

  Lila feels the wind turn before anyone else. Her glasses? To follow the kites way up high, even into the sun.

• Pebble

  the seal of the Authie bay

  Pebble naps on the sandbanks at low tide. He likes people… from far away!

• Feather

  the owl kite

  Feather flew away from the 40th anniversary poster. She knows every kite by heart.

Paz is the mascot of the Pas-de-Calais Département. Tom, Lila, Pebble and Feather are characters made up for this universe.

Paz, Tom and Lila in Berck