Dieppe International Kite Festival

Classic and acrobatic kite-flyers, amateurs and professionals, experienced or just curious, share their art, talent and passion. At the impressive grand parade, which takes place on the first Sunday of the festival, all the specimens appear in a disparate and colourful yet harmonious display. This is an opportunity for hundreds of participants in traditional costume to parade along the streets and bring joy to the town. For the grand finale, the night flight rounds off the event with a sound and light show, during which an assortment of kites light up at nightfall in an unreal and magical atmosphere!

Dieppe Kite Festival showcases and promotes the skills involved in this little-known part of our heritage through intercultural actions celebrating creativity and artists, while also exploring new technology.

Dieppe is a coastal community in the Arrondissement of Dieppe in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France.
A port on the English Channel, at the mouth of the Arques river, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled beach, a 15th-century castle and the churches of Saint-Jacques and Saint-Remi. The mouth of the river Scie lies at Hautot-sur-Mer, directly to the west of Dieppe.

Dieppe belongs to the Pays de Caux, lying along the Alabaster Coast in the region of Normandy. It is located on the Channel coast, north of Rouen at the mouth of the river Arques and lies east of the mouth of the river Scie.

First recorded as a small fishing settlement in 1030, Dieppe was an important prize fought over during the Hundred Years' War. Dieppe was the premier port of the kingdom in the 17th century.

During the later 19th century, Dieppe became popular with English artists as a beach resort. Prominent literary figures such as Arthur Symons loved to keep up with the latest fads of avant-garde France here, and during "the season" sometimes stayed for weeks on end.

The town has a railway station, operated by SNCF, with frequent departure for Rouen-Rive-Droite. SNCF operates also buses to Gisors-Embranchement through Serqueux.

Dieppe has a ferry port with direct services to the English town of Newhaven, situated at the mouth of the River Ouse in East Sussex. The twice-daily service to the Port of Newhaven is operated by DFDS Seaways, under a concession subsidised by the French government.