Winging it in France

Each September the quiet farming village of St Hilaire du Touvet in the French Alps explodes with the sights and sounds of a paragliding and hang-gliding festival called the Coupe Icare (the Icarus Cup). Check out our gallery to see the highlights of this year's event ...
  
  


The Coupe Icare
An aerial view of the festival in St Hilaire du Touvet, a small Alpine village in the Chartreuse mountains, 25km east of Grenoble, France. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
The masquerade forms the centrepiece of the Coupe Icare, which is named after the Greek myth of Icarus. Some 100 or so paragliders and hang-glider pilots compete in a flying fancy-dress parade. The event is held over a weekend and attracts spectators from across the Alpine region. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
Creativity is encouraged in the masquerade. Here, Frenchman Patrick Calligaro dresses as a full English breakfast. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
A late entrant, Monsieur Lintignac, dressed as a moulin à vent – a windmill. The pilot is in there somewhere. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
Launching can be difficult. As well as the pressure of the crowd, the midday temperatures can hit 22°ree;C. And not being able to see doesn’t help. Fortunately, launch assistants help each contestant lay out their equipment and take off. Here the windmill makes a clean start. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
With a little help the windmill makes it off the edge. The landing area is 500 metres below on the valley floor. In calm conditions the flight down will take 15 minutes. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
Alongside the air displays there are trade shows and an aerial film festival. Here a young pilot-to-be gets to grips with a hang-glider simulator. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
Another star attraction at this year's event was Shere Khan, an eagle with a wing span of seven feet trained to launch and fly with French pilot Laurent Cochard and falconer Jacques-Olivier Travers. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
Pilot and falconer take off on a tandem paraglider with Shere Khan launching just feet in front. The falconer in the front passenger seat will call the bird to his arm in mid-flight. The human pilot will also follow Shere Khan as the bird finds thermals. They can fly together in this way for hours and cover considerable distances. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
One of this year’s spectaculars – the Chinese Dragon flown by Francis Heilmann. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
A team of French frogs land to loud cheers and applause. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coup Icare
The next morning the winners of the previous day’s masquerade are called upon to perform again. Here two latecomers run to take off. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
The winners of the masquerade can look forward to seeing themselves on local and national TV and in the papers, and reliving their day in the bar later while planning next year’s costume. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
Coupe Icare
Rolland Wacogne, the dove of peace, shouts in relief upon landing after the second day. He won the hearts of the crowd while trying to take off on the Saturday, and the votes of the judges in the final on Sunday – he won the Prix du Symbol, or ‘prize for symbolism’ for the event. The Coupe Icare folds away its wings until next year. Photograph: Ed Ewing/guardian.co.uk
 

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