Douglas Court flies a thousand kites
UP THE REBELS. Douglas Court Shopping Centre is part of Cork Craft Month, and there will be demonstration workshops on Saturday, August 9th, by Cork Craft and Design. Pictures: Larry Cummins
Mary Poppins has nothing on the wonder that awaits you at Douglas Court shopping centre this summer.
On the ground, all those delightful shops and cafes, but above — ah, above, floats a positive wonderland of brightly-coloured, beautifully-painted kites, every one of them an amazing individual creation.
Just about a thousand of them already, and more coming in by the day from children all over Cork who want to take part in The Douglas Court Kite Festival.
As you stroll around, you see family groups, excited as they search for the particular kite their son or daughter painted with so much loving care at the kitchen table.
"There it is, I see it! Oh, look at that one with the furry cat! Ah, Up The Barrs, that’s one after my own heart!”
There is no doubt about it, Douglas Court has come up with the most wonderful notion to turn your shopping experience into a stroll through Alice’s Wonderland. How did it come about?
“The idea came into my head last year,” explains Bartosz Mieszala-Property Director for The Douglas Court Partnership.
“I was looking at the mall and thinking, you know, it needs more colour. I wanted to decorate the mall for the Summer. What about kites, I thought, and then realised we could get the community involved to make this happen. So, we started last year, not sure what to expect, to see if it would work, giving out the templates, and it exploded. We kept running out of templates.
"We got just over 500 decorated kites back in 2024. We gave out twice that number of templates, we ran it for the whole summer, and didn’t take them down until nearly Halloween because our customers just loved them so much. This year, everybody has been asking us way ahead, almost in January, if we were doing it again, and it’s been great.”
As part of the Kite Festival every Saturday, he says, they hold a kite painting workshop where Douglas Court provides the templates, paints, and people who can help the participants.
“It makes for great fun and activity, but the emphasis is on the kids doing it themselves, at home, as part of a family event. The Saturday workshops are to give them the get-go, but it has blossomed so much from there, we couldn’t stop it now even if we wanted to!”
One can see that Bartosz is immensely proud of the idea, and he doesn’t deny it.
“It’s going back to basics, showing how a simple activity can bring families together, keeping kids happy and busy and occupied, not scrolling on their phones all the time. Then you see everybody walking through, pointing out their kites and admiring others, and they’re so proud of what they’ve achieved. We are creating special memories for years to come, and it's just such a beautiful journey under the kites as you stroll our mall. It certainly adds to a regular shopping journey. You are experiencing something special, and there are some fantastic pieces on display.
"From well-known cartoon characters, you then move to a sea of imagination with rainbows, butterflies, patterns, handprints, flowers, you name it, and so much creativity everywhere. We keep getting fantastic feedback, and it’s just an amazing interaction for all our team with the customers and community we are getting to grow closer with. More importantly, for all these little artists having their work on this play in the centre gives them a real sense of ownership in Douglas Court.”
Alan Morland, the recently appointed centre manager, is also delighted with the scheme and how it is working. “The biggest thing for me is the child seeing their kite on display and being so thrilled. You can see their faces and the feeling of achievement. When we see a family walking through and pointing things out to each other, finding their own, commenting on other people’s kites, it’s heartwarming.
"I get people coming up to me to say how much they are enjoying it, I hear kids shrieking when they see their very own kite displayed up there, and I just love to see the family atmosphere it engenders. Every week we pick random winners, and they get a Golden Kite prize — a gift card which they can spend anywhere in the mall.”
Douglas Court is part of Cork Craft Month, and there will be demonstration workshops on Saturday, August 9th, by Cork Craft and Design, one of our tenants. Pure Cork & Irish Legends by Onoir O’Brien is another exhibition; it showcases portraits that celebrate influential Cork and Irish figures, as well as significant locations in Cork's history. If someone is an artist or a performer, Douglas Court is happy to engage with them.
Centre owners, The Douglas Court Partnership, have been very focused on ensuring that the overall customer experience is easy as well as enjoyable.
“We just completed some car park repairs followed by installation of an Artificial Intelligence parking guidance system, where displays all around our car park tell our customers where there are available spaces, instead of driving round and round to search,” says Bartosz.
"It has made parking super easy here. Customers love it, but they’re also curious how it works. The technology behind it is very advanced and quite sophisticated; yet, in short, cameras on masts scan the car park while AI-driven software communicates to the screen where the available spaces are.
"Most importantly, it is very effective and adds to the experience, and that’s a key focus of our whole team.”
Enhance customer experience in multiple ways beyond the usual goods and services. We want the centre to be community-based, promote overall wellness, inspire and make people feel happy about being here and each time they think of Douglas Court.
From the car park through to the retail offering and events, Douglas Court believes that a simple yet very effective positive human interaction is so important.
"We will run it to the end of the summer. If people have a template at home that they haven’t completed yet, then get on with it — we want you to be part of our Kite Festival too!"
For more info, visit Douglas Court on Instagram. Click anywhere on this image:
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