 |
Our guests for Festival of the Winds 2023 are Karin and Roger Stevens from eastern Belgium.
Karin has focused on appliqueing kites and combines modern colors and shapes. She is very precise with her work, and you can see that on her kites. We are using one of their kite designs for this year’s Festival patch/badge. Roger is fond of MC Escher, a graphic designer from the Netherlands, his works are often to be found in Roger’s kites.
In the earlier days they organized some workshops on how to sew a kite together. They are self taught and specialize in applique kites. People all over the world liked them so they continued to make them. It was very motivating when Roger received recognition for his kite 2 years in a row! He earned first and second place a few years ago at the kite festival Frejus in France. They have a lot of fun making them in winter and of course flying them in summer, and for them it is the perfect hobby/sport.
They flew their kites in many places like India, Italy, France, The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Turkey, England, Portugal and Malta. They organize once a year to go to a special kite festival a little further away from home while juggling work commitments. They look forward to combining their visit to the us in Sydney with plans to see a bit of Sydney and the countryside.
Former international guests such as Jan and Jolanda van Leeuwen, Shula and Eli Shavit, Fred and Donna Taylor, Jan and Marja Grutterink, Herman and Ina Plattje plus our Victorians ‘The Baker family’ have told them that if they have the chance to visit the kite festival on Bondi beach they have to do it. We look forward to showing them our beautiful Bondi Beach and our hospitality.
They will present an applique workshop so if you can please bring your sewing machine and materials you may wish to sew as we learn techniques from them. |