Spirits high as kite festival thrills in Manchester

Dave Lindo, Gleaner WriterLAND SETTLEMENT, Manchester:CARL FORDE is a man who has been making a difference in his community of Land Settlement in Manchester as a catalyst for peace and unity. He does this through his annual event, the Land Settlement Kite Festival, which serves as a unifying force for people from the surrounding communities.
Forde has been organising the kite festival for over five years. The event has proven to be a hit as although more popular in the past, kite flying is still enjoyed by many persons.
"A lady from the area used to keep the kite festival. She migrated after a while and I just continued to do it," Forde said. "It brings out a lot of people from Settlement and areas such as Royal Flats, Comfort, Brown's Town, New Hall, Williamsfield. It's a time when people from this area just put aside everything if there are any bad vibes between them and just come together as one and have some fun."
Forde said kites are still much loved by many Jamaicans. He explained: "People still love to fly kites. It is a tradition in Jamaica when back in the day children had fun making their own kites and flying them. We don't have a lot of kids doing that nowadays because they are caught up with games on the Internet, TV shows, things like those. This (festival) is also a means of keeping that traditional alive."
FAMILY AFFAIR
The festival, held recently at the Settlement playing field, was a wonderful event. It was truly a family affair where kids turned out in their numbers with their parents along with their kites. The strong winds at the location made it a perfect day for kite flying. There were kites of all shapes, designs, colours, and sizes - some even taller than their owners. Men and women were seen having fun while brightening up the sky with the array of beautiful kites.
There was a group of men from Settlement who had the biggest kite. They were seen busily working together to get the huge kite up in the air. However, they had a hard time, much to the amusement of the people at the festival, as their kite flew away several times because the cord they were using was not strong enough to hold it.
Forde said that there should be more support from the Government and from corporate Jamaica for events such as his. "We need more events like this to unite the people. Just like when the [color:c1cd=blue !important][color:c1cd=blue !important]Reggae Boyz are playing, the whole nation just come together as one, no crime," he said. "Events like these help to draw people close together, so the Government and big companies should come in and be a part of this."