Cape Town’s skies were a riot of colour yesterday as local and international kiters took to the air at Dolphin Beach in support of the 30th Cape Town International Kite Festival.
Kiters from Cape Town and South Africa at large as well as Tunisia, the USA and Canada were flying high in support of mental health.
The festival has been the flagship event of the non profit organisation Cape Mental Health since 1994.
October is Mental Health Month, and the annual festival aims to raise awareness and remove stigmas around mental health. The theme for this year’s fest is “Hope on A String”.
Santie Terreblanche, Deputy Executive Officer for Cape Mental Health says: “We are open to speak about our physical health but when it comes to a mental health condition, we try to hide it away and not talk about it because we feel like we have a weakness but mental health is as impacting to our health.
“We need to look after our mental health and show compassion and understanding to those living with mental health conditions and embrace them and fight the stigmas attached to mental health.”
Dolphin Beach was filled with stunning colourful kites including the world’s second most famous fish Nemo, a dragon, a helicopter, a gecko and flowers.
This is the first time that international kiters are attending the festival post Covid and professional kiter Tony Jetland from California says he loves flying kites for the smiles.
He smiles: “When you have a bad day you can go out and fly a kite, we call it kite therapy and you see a lot of smiles.
“As a kiter when I have a lot of people around me, I call it group therapy.
The annual Pop-Up Fly Event will take place at Melkbosstrand Beach on Sunday from 10am-3pm. The event is free and open to the public.
marsha.dean@inl.co.za