The stage is set for the sky to be dotted with kites between January 12 and 17 around Sankranti, the festival of harvest.
Starting with a close-to-midnight event at Necklace Road when kites with lanterns go up into the dark skies on January 12, the 2nd International Kite Festival ‘Kite-2017’, is coordinated by Telangana Tourism.
It will be organised across four districts in the State, including the State capital, at Aga Khan Academy near adjoining Maheswaram mandal, Yadagirigutta and Warangal, said Tourism Minister A. Chandulal, at a curtain-raiser press conference at Arts & Crafts Village at Shilparamam here on Friday.
According to the schedule released by the Minister, the night of January 12 (Thursday) will see the official Telangana Tourism welcome event followed by an ‘Inclusive Schools Programme’ at the Aga Khan Academy on January 13 (Friday). Saturday and Sunday will see two days of family fun and kite flying at the Academy itself.
This will be followed by an event in Yadagirigutta on January 16 and another in Warangal on January 17, Mr. Chandulal said, adding that they expect a footfall of 50,000 participants/visitors through the said week. The event is to be guided by Royal Kite Flyers’ Club India and apart from teams from 17 nations, 10 pan-India kite flying clubs will also participate, he said.
Ace shuttler P.V. Sindhu will be the official ‘face’ of the festival. “I support Kite-2017,” she said, at the briefing that was attended among others by Secretary (Tourism) Burra Venkatesam, Additional Secretary (Culture) Sunitha Bhagwat, Managing Director, Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation, Christina, Special Officer (Shilparamam) G. Kishan Rao and Director (Culture) Harikrishna Mamidi.
Students from government and private schools will come together and learn through experience, engaging with kite-making, paper craft, origami and quilling, as well as presentations on the history of kites. Festival passes are available online on BookMyShow . For enquiries and advance school reservations, the Kite-2017 Festival Office may be contacted on +91 7330612555 or by mailing to info@kitefest.in .
