Millisle: Thousands of people attend Ards Peninsula Kite Festival

The Ards Peninsula Kite Festival took place on Millisle beach

Thousands of people have attended a kite flying festival on the Ards Peninsula on Sunday.

The event, which was held in Millisle, is in its second year, after being to paused due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

While wind speeds were not ideal, people gathered to show off their skills and watch colourful displays.

Stephen Newell, chair of the Ards Peninsula Villages Partnership, said the group wanted to host "a low-cost family fun day".

He first got the idea for a kite festival after visiting Australia and the Canary Islands where kite festivals are more established.

Stephen Newell said the kite festival will be an annual feature in the Ards Peninsula calendar

The first event was held in Ballywalter in 2019.

"The peninsula is blessed with a couple of things; really beautiful beaches and occasionally, really strong winds which we thought were ideal for kites," Mr Newell told BBC News NI.

"It's a really good day. It's a fun, family day.

"We aimed to make sure it's quite an inexpensive for families because nowadays we know everyone is struggling a little bit with the cost of living so virtually everything is free."

Kites ranged from the more traditional to others with elaborate designs

Brian Tweedy, from Kite Crew Ireland, said kite flying is very accessible and affordable with kites starting at £5 but "like anything in life, the sky's the limit, you can go up to thousands".

"It's nice to see people going outside and enjoying the outdoors after the pandemic," he added.

Brian Tweedy is working to promote kite flying across Ireland and the UK

Mr Tweedy hopes to return to the "beautiful peninsula" for next year's festival.