Portsmouth Kite Festival: dates, spots and what to expect

Southsea Common is about to fill with kites again. The 34th Portsmouth International Kite Festival lands there on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, running from 10am to 5pm each day, and it costs nothing to get in. Portsmouth City Council and The Kite Society of Great Britain put it on together, and this year's theme, '100 Kites for 100 Years', ties into the century since Portsmouth became a city.

Organiser Gill Bloom has confirmed international flyers are coming, and the line-up of kites is the real draw. You get single-line kites with intricate designs, cellular kites that are more structural engineering than anything else, and 3D soft kites, with teams and individuals flying tricks and ballet routines to music. Jørgen Møller Hansen is back, now flying with Felix Mottram and Jacob Twyford as The Decorators. The programme is the same across both days, so it doesn't matter which one you pick. It opens with the Altitude Sprint at 10am, then Flying Fish at 10.10, Carl Wright's kites to music at 10.25, and the sport and multi-line celebration at 10.40 with The Flying Squad, The Quad Mob, Jesse Kapsten, Carl Robertshaw and Chris Goff. Art kites come at 11.40, dragon kites at noon, and a 'how to fly a kite' demo with Lex and Flying Fish at 12.20. The afternoon repeats the sport celebration, adds kite trains at 1.40, more art and dragon kites, and a public interaction session at 2.55. It closes with the spirits, angels and doves at 4.35, the Mega Team four-line mass flight at 4.50, and awards at 5pm.

There is live music at the bandstand all day too. Saturday gives you Katy Glover, The Duds, Cadency, Rewind and the Adam Ede Band; Sunday swaps them for The Woven Crows, Island City, The Ibiza Band, Mayley Bladford and The Boppers. For families, there are free children's kite-making workshops, Seekers Create activities, BH Live family sessions, a library bus, a funfair, craft stalls, local amusements, dedicated kite traders and food and drink stalls. On the practical side, there are water refill points, a breastfeeding space and TTK Welfare support. First Bus and Stagecoach are running free weekend travel throughout September, and the PR3 Park & Ride turns up every 20 minutes on the Saturday and every 10 on the Sunday, at £5 for up to five people travelling together.

If you want to make a day of it, Southsea Castle is right nearby on Clarence Esplanade. It is a 16th-century artillery fort built by Henry VIII in 1544, one of the early examples of the trace italienne style, and the spot where Henry VIII stood to watch his flagship, the Mary Rose, sink in 1545. The council bought it for £35,000 in 1960 and restored it to its pre-1850 look, and it is free to visit, open Tuesday to Sunday and bank holidays from 10am to 5pm through to 3 November, closed Mondays. With the castle and the festival both on the same stretch of seafront, it is an easy pair to do in one afternoon.