As Baleia is a location known for its good wind conditions and kitesurfing seasons, we aim to introduce you to a variety of kitesurfing events and activities across the globe. Showing you that kitesurfing goes beyond sport and how it can bring people together. In this page you will find more information about the FOCUS Festival in Madagascar.
FOCUS is a week-long kite and community experience in one of the most remote and unique parts of Madagascar. The team organizes different TRY Trips throughout the year, from road to kite trips, and once a year everything comes together at the FOCUS Festival, bringing together kitesurfing, art, local culture, music, and nightlife together.
A major part of FOCUS is the art project, where around 100 traditional fishing boats and custom sails featuring the eyes of the guests. For two days the beach becomes open-air exhibition. The boats then sail alongside the kiters during a spectacular downwinder across the turquoise lagoon towards Tsiandamba. The project creates a visual and cultural connection between the participants, kitesurfing and the traditional fishing culture of the local communities, making the art project an integral part of the wider FOCUS experience.
Beyond sport and fun, the FOCUS festival aims to make a long lasting difference, with initiatives that continue to benefit the local community after the Festival takes place. With this in mind, Wildert Mestdagh and Yennno Tellier created CWATER, a water purification project focused on providing access to safe drinking water in remote areas. They work with Rainman portable watermakers, two-component desalination systems that convert seawater into fresh drinking water using reverse osmosis. Each unit produces up to 140 liters of clean drinking water per hour and they currently have three units operating. A great challenge in this project was the lack of storage for the drinking water in the local community. The Cwater project then partnered with FOCUS Festival to find sponsors for 2.000 clean water jerrycans which allowed them to store and transport clean drinking water to different regions.