Craig Hansen

Craig has been making and flying kites for 43 years, from when he was a boy growing up in Zimbabwe and now from his home in New Zealand. He is a member of the world famous Peter Lynn Kite Flying group; a NZ based kite manufacturing and distribution company that makes and sells maxi single line kites worldwide, as well as mega kites, kite buggies and KiteCats. In his occasional breaks for kite flying, Craig explores the world in wind-powered adventures with his latest trip being a kite-buggy expedition across the Sahara dessert in 2012, at a distance of 2500km!
Craig will be welcomed back to Rosebud Kite Festival with some very beautiful and colourful air-inflated soft kites. These giant kites are among the largest type of kites in the world and generate incredible lift forces that cannot usually be held down by mere mortals. Craig will be using a very heavy anchor (like a vehicle) to keep his kite performing well and to prevent it from entering the stratosphere.

For more information please visit www.peterlynnkites.com

Maggie Phillips, Jo Baker and Trent Baker

Maggie Phillips, Jo Baker and Trent Baker share a lot in common. Not only are they grandmother, mother and son, together they are three generations of passionate kite makers. And they don’t just fly ordinary kites either, but huge flotillas of lovingly made festival kites, strung together and sent skyward on a single line of rope. Their collective passion has taken them all over the world: to Thailand, China, Europe and Guam: exotic locations where kite flying is considered both a sport and an art and follows a long history of cultural tradition.
Grandma Maggie joined kite flying royalty in 2010, when she won the soft kite category for her creative trilogy of handmade Hewitt Kites in Shandong Province, China.  “There must have been 10,000 people and the crowds parted for us as we arrived into the kite flying arena!” says Maggie of her international win.
But it was Maggie’s daughter Jo who first got the bug for kite flying along with her husband Ricky nearly 20 years ago. Since then, the family has grown, (Trent was born into kite making attending his first festival when he was just two weeks old!) and so have the kites. Now working with giant maxi kites, Jo, Trent and Ricky attend festivals around the globe promoting the lost art of kite flying. Jo also runs festival workshops for children to discover the joy of making and flying their own hand-made kite.

For more information please visit www.kites4kids.com.au

Robert Brasington

One of Australia’s most eminent kite makers, Robert Brasington designs and fabricates a range of innovative kite designs known under the label of Ground Zero Kites. This is also the name of a business he runs with his wife Tracey on the north coast of Tasmania. His custom-made sport kite designs are well regarded among the kite making fraternity for superior speed, agility and effortless freestyle maneuverability.
At Rosebud in 2012, Robert showcased his signature ‘Cathedral Window’ delta kites; designed and influenced by modern gothic art and architecture these darkly inspired creations transform the humble kite into the realm of art and kinetic sculpture.
Roberts’s awards include: – • Won Masters Category three times on different occasions for large sculptural pieces at Long Beach Kite Festival Competition 1999, 2001, and 2003 in Washington State USA. • Won Hargraves Perpetual Trophy in Australia. • Featured flyer in American Kite magazine winter/ spring 1999. • Featured designer in “Sports und Kite Drachen”, German kite magazine issue 3 2001.

For more information please visit www.robertbrasingtonkites.com.

Jan O’Loughlin

New Zealand born (yet another Kiwi!), been living in Australia for around 25 years now with the last 18 years in Bundaberg, QLD. Jan made her first kite in 2003: a little inflatable airplane (or soft kite – no sticks involved) to take on a beachside holiday. Her fascination for crafting inflatable creations grew after visiting the local kite festival. She is now a member of the QLD Kite Flyers Society (QKS).

Jan began designing inflatables on paper but quickly progressed to the use of 3D software to aid the design process. She enjoys making ‘ground dwellers’: Air inflatable pieces that are ground tethered and allow people (particularly children) to get up close and personal to experience these unique works.
Jan also enjoys kite buggying and while she concedes that she’s not an expert at this sport, she loves the thrill of power kiting on the local beaches.
A word on kite flying from Jan:
“I stumbled into kite flying and while other hobbies in the past produced the same amount of creativity, the camaraderie amongst the kite flying fraternity and the interest from passers-by is the additional icing on the kiting cake. The final cherry on top for any kiter, enthusiast or not, is that once you have a kite – the wind is free!”

Kevin Sanders

Kevin Sanders, a member of Australia’s OzFeathers Display Team, designs his single line and sportkites range under the label of Kaos Kite design in South Australia. Kevin has been flying kites since 1993 and shares his love of kites and kite flying this year at the Rosebud Kite Festival:
“It is an interest that has so few cultural, social or economic barriers. The poorest children, the richest princes, the very young, and the not so young, all experience the same level of joy that comes with building and flying kites. And often they do it side by side, shoulder to shoulder, each with laughter in their voice, a smile on their face and their eyes turned skywards.”
For a sneak peak of Kevin’s unique kite designs check out his website at: www.ozfeathers.com.au/kaos

Linda Sanders

Linda Sanders, working with Kevin in the OzFeathers Display Team, will be displaying her award-winning inflatable Rainbow Bargello kite along with some of her international-flavoured artistic feather banner designs.
“Colour is a universal language; no-one can feel sad when surrounded by the creative use of colour.  It’s a pick-me-up for any age, any religion and in any language.”

Linda’s “Australiana Scene” mural was featured recently as the beach backdrop for Santos Tour Down Under stage 5 cycle race in SA – as seen in TV and newspaper coverage, and as far afield as Sky TV UK.

Linda also volunteers on the Board of Directors for the largest kite club worldwide, American Kite Fliers Association, currently serving as 2nd Vice President and Regional Director for all members NOT living in USA.  She’s held the VP2 role now for 3 consecutive years, and the RD role since 2006.

For more information please visit www.ozfeathers.com.au

Perrin Melchior

Perrin Melchoir is a mad-keen kite flyer and buggiest and owner of Kiteworks Auckland where he sells all things kite related. In 2006, Perrin rose to fame by being “the fastest man in a kite buggy in NZ” clocking speed in excess of 100 km per hour along the beach at Muriwai, New Zealand.
At the 2012 Rosebud Kite Fest, Perrin offered a display of geometric shaped single line kites known as Tetrahedral. First designed by none other than historic telephone inventor: Alexander Graham Bell these classic kites use a pyramid shaped structure to increase sail area without impacting on weight. The tetrahedral kite Bell invented helped prove to scientists that large flying machines could work- before the tetrahedral kite they thought it was impossible.

For more information please visit Perrin Melchoir