The colourful skies of Gujarat
Kites have always been a part of everyday life in India. The dangerous, exuberant game is being recreated at a larger level in Gujarat at the International Kite Flying Festival. The colourful kites adorning the vast skies of Gujarat is a sight to behold. The International Kite Festival is a part of the official celebration of Uttarayan in Gujarat, bringing kite makers and flyers from all over the world to demonstrate their unique creations and wow the crowds with unique and unusual kites. Let’s have a look at this year’s festival, which was held from January 7 to 14…
Grand inauguration of International Kite Festival in the presence of Honb’le Governor of Gujarat Shri OP Kohali, CM Shri Vijay Rupani, Mayor Shri Gautam Shah and other dignitaries at Riverfront.
The International Kite Festival is celebrated on the occasion of Uttarayan. The International Kite Festival history is concerned, it is being organised in Gujarat since 1989 in the city of Ahmedabad.
Kites of all shapes and sizes are flown, and the main competition is to battle nearby kite-flyers to cut their strings and bring down their kites.
Production of kites and kite supplies can be seen on the streets of Ahmedabad from November, to get ready for Uttarayan. The best place for kite shopping is Patang Bazaar, the special kite market in the old city, which is open for 24 hours during the week preceding the festival.
The main event takes place at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, where visitors can watch cultural performances and have food or buy handicrafts from the adjoining fair. Sabarmati is a playground for master kite flyers from different parts of the world.
The kite festival have witnessed creations of master kite makers from Malaysia who have brought their wau-balang kites, llayang-llayanghave from Indonesia, giant banner kites from US, Japanese rokkaku fighting kites, Italian sculptural kites and the Chinese flying dragons kites.