'Free Flight' Festival Celebrates Greek Myth Hero 'Icarus'
Language
Reading Level
Listen to Article
From September 17th through September 21st, thousands of people gathered at Saint-Hilaire du Touvet in France, to watch an assortment of creatively made aircraft soar (or crash) in the skies to celebrate the Icarus Cup - The world's oldest 'free flight' festival.
The event, started to re-live the flight of Greek legend Icarus, who according to ancient lore tried to escape prison with 'wings' made from feathers stuck to his body with wax, was started by three paragliding enthusiasts in 1974.
Now every summer, 8,000 flying enthusiasts try to re-live his dream of flying by launching off the plateau Des Petites Roches flying down to Lumbin, 600 meters below. The four-day affair now includes many different ariel flights including para-gliding, hot-air ballooning, kite flying and even a man flying in a jet-propelled suit. To keep the spectators on the ground entertained, the event also features trade shows and an ariel film festival.
However, the highlight of the four-day event is the Masquerade Contest where prizes are awarded for the most 'innovative and poetic' flying vehicles - Over the years, these have included dragons, giant footballs, cars and even birthday cakes - Some glide gracefully to their destination, while others simply drop down - either way they provide a source of amusement to the enthusiastic crowd below.
sources:destinationflen.eurostar.com, coupe-icare.org,guardian.co.uk
Cite Article
Geography
Learn Keywords in this Article
41 Comments
- Ethan furnerabout 13 yearsCool festival
- cool guyabout 14 yearsthat's amazing
- Jakie Chanover 14 yearsWOW THAT IS AMAZINGLY AWSOME
- Jakie Chanover 14 yearsWOW THAT IS AMAZINGLY AWSOME
- Jennaabout 15 yearsnice
- Jennaabout 15 yearscoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool
- kayover 15 yearscool pic
- lukeover 15 yearsi like this
- lukeover 15 yearsluke loves storwars
- navaover 15 yearsi see a grl