They came from Australia and South Africa, China and Chile, Germany and Guatemala, Italy, New Zealand and Nepal. In all, 33 delegations of kiteflyers were gathered with their creations in the kite village erected at the edge of the seaway that separates France from Britain. Thousands of people crowded the town for nine days to watch fantastic displays-and sometimes friendly battles-in the sky. There were vigorous acrobatic kites and langorous kites dancing ballets. But most impressive of all were the monarchs of the sky, such as the tubular sea monster brought to Europe by famed kitemaker Peter Lynn of New Zealand, and his green octopus that threatened constantly to land, like King Kong, on the roofs of adjacent hotels.

For this millennium edition of the Dieppe biennial festival-the eleventh in the series-three countries were the guests of honour: Guatemala, Korea and Indonesia. A team of 10 Guatemalan kiteflyers brought to Europe for the first time six giants of Sumpago-vast circular constructions on bamboo frames measuring up to 18 metres across, richly painted in reds and ochres that evoke the colour of the soil of the land where they were made.

Korean kites, too, are conceived as means of communication with the heavens. It is a tradition in Korea to write on kites the names and dates of birth of new children and to launch the kites during the first fortnight of the year. When the kite is high in the sky, the cord attaching it to earth is cut and it wafts away the evil spirits that threatened the children it protects. Battle kites are also a speciality of this nation, whose kiteflyers develop great speed and dexterity. Indonesian kites, in keeping with the predominant philosophy of that country, are considered to be in communion with nature. The layang-layang are of a vast variety, many of them associated with a particular island of the archipelago. The most popular Balinese kite is the be-bean, in the form of an undulating fish whose fins float in the sky, suggesting the movement of fish in the water.
It used to be considered that kites originated in China-which also had a team in Dieppe this year-but scholars now situate the birth of the wind-borne machine in Indonesia 3,500 years ago.

Kites-or cerfs volants (flying stags) as the French have named them-were introduced to Europe in the thirteenth century when Tatar armies hoist them into the sky belching smoke and flames, to terrify their enemies on the battlefield. Since then, kites have been recruited to more peaceful uses, such as meteorology. In the late twentieth century, kites became a sophisticated leisure industry. The latest development of kite technology in the service of a sport is in fly-surfing, with kites used to pull surfboards and their necessarily skillful passengers through the sea.

The high point of this year\'s edition of the Dieppe festival was the Children\'s Arch. Two kilomletres long, it consisted of 2,500 individual kites strung together in the longest arch ever created. Every child attending a primary school in the town was invited to decorate one of the kites. The arch was conceived as a window on the world, facing both land and sea, and a peaceful symbol of the new millennium. t (The Observer)