to take off on a kite of fancy! Thousands of Bermudians and visitors yesterday transformed Horseshoe Bay into a dazzling array of colour for the Good Friday kite festival.

Not that the day was just about gripping pieces of string and shielding your eyes against the sunlight.

For many visitors, there was plenty of fun to be had lying on the beach, cooling down with ice creams and capturing some holiday snapshots.

There were also those who preferred more energetic pastimes -- kicking a football, splashing in the sea or dancing to music from a sound system set up at the entrance to the beach.

Others, however, were determined to see their colourful creations take to the air... even for a few feet.

And for once, the sight of a shark did not spread panic on the beach. Instead, there were cheers as 11-year-old William Eimer and his father, Ronald Eimer, got their kite -- resembling a 7-foot shark -- airborne.

"I suppose it's bad press to have a shark here, but nobody seems to mind,'' joked Mr. Eimer, who comes from Virginia. "It's a first for us to be kite-flying in Bermuda on Easter Friday.'' Paul Hitchens, of Kent Avenue, Devonshire, was not so lucky.

Try as he might, his small flying machine refused to do what it was designed for.

He had made the kite for his mother-in-law, Elizabeth Grundy, who had flown Soaring success Bristol, England, to enjoy the Bermudian holiday.

And there was some dispute over who should take the flak for the minor malfunction.

"I think it's the controller,'' Mr. Hitchens smiled, taking the string from his mother-in-law.

But as their hopes crashed to earth again, he was forced to reconsider.

"Well, at least it looks good,'' he laughed.

Similar problems were experienced by the Corporation of Hamilton, which once again triumphed in the "biggest kite'' category of the annual competition, The giant -- 17-foot high, including its headstick -- was the outcome of three days of labour by Clive Hook, David Monkman and Wayne Augustus.

Made from blue and gold satin, it proudly bore the Corporation crest.

"We spent all last night, putting the pieces together,'' said Mr. Hook, the Corporation general superintendent.

"I'm not sure there is really enough wind to get it up today.'' Ten-year-old Heather MacKenzie, of Somerset Road, Somerset, had more success with her 15-foot nylon parafoil kite.

"Sometimes when the wind gets up, the strings really hum,'' said her father, Ken MacKenzie, who runs a business selling kites.

Whether kites were grounded or airborne, however, most people yesterday would have agreed ...the holiday was a soaraway success.