Ruby seadragon kite and dried fruit treats new additions for the 10th annual Albany Kite Fiesta

The skies above Anzac Peace Park will be filled with colour once again when the Albany Kite Fiesta returns for its 10th year on Sunday.

Experienced kite maker Michael Alvares said he always looked forward to the Albany event because it was set in an area steeped in history.

“I love the place because it’s down at the bottom of the main street and it’s just an amazing bit of history,” he said.

“We love working there. We make a lot of box kites because they’re ideal for the strong winds of Albany.”

The 2022 edition of the fiesta will feature two new kites constructed specially for the Albany event — one featuring a ruby seadragon and another promoting the healthy eating of fruit and vegetables.

Mr Alvares, who has more than 40 years of kite design experience, said he was inspired to make the ruby seadragon kite based on its depiction on Albany’s CBH silos.

“You’ve got it up there as a character on the silo and I’ve studied the real one at the museum,” he said.

“There is a professor called Nerida Wilson who is an expert on seahorses and I had contact with her, she sent me an image of the ruby seadragon.

“The most important thing about the seadragon is that it doesn’t have any appendages at all because it lives in the deep sea.

“It’s very fascinating and I’ll have the images at the festival so that people can see the real thing.”

Attendees are invited to bring their own kites or they can buy a box kite kit on the day.

An arch of 200 kites will fly as a backdrop to the free event, which runs from 10am to 4pm.

The Albany Kite Fiesta is sponsored by Healthway to promote the Go for 2 & 5 message.

“I’’ll do drops with dried fruit. In the past I’ve done the lolly drop but in keeping with the theme of two fruit and five veg, I’ve got lots of dried fruit like apricots, sultanas, mango and pawpaw,“ Mr Alvares said.

“They’ll be in little plastic bags with parachutes and helicopters. I’ll send them up about 50m in a koala with a velcro pouch.

“When I pull the pouch open they’ll rain down. The kids love it and the idea is that we want to introduce them to fruits they might not have had before.”