PANAJI: Kites of various shapes and sizes will glide over the Miramar beach on January 17 and 18 as the Pariwartan Pariwar, a Belgavi-based organisation, holds the third edition of its annual kite festival.
International and national professional kite flyers are set to demonstrate their skills at the event. Twenty-one Indian teams and 21 international kite-flyers from Canada, Estonia, Germany, Malaysia, U.K., Russia, Brazil, Australia, France, Italy, Netherlands and South Africa are lined up for participation.
The highlight at this year’s event will be stunt kites. Night kite flyers will also showcase their collection from 6 p.m. onwards.
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To encourage little ones, nearly 2,000 kites will be freely distributed among school children who attend the festival, the organisers said.
“We are sure Goa will play the perfect host and participants will return for another successful edition next year,” the event coordinator, Ashok Naik, said.
The festival will hold its seventh edition in Belgavi, Karnataka, from January 21 to 24.
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“[The festival] took inspiration from the Belgaum International Kite Festival held annually in Belgavi. People wanted a similar festival to happen in Goa,” festival coordinator Chaitanya Kulkarni said.
The Mentor of Pariwartan Pariwar, Abhay Patil, said the festival will include miniature kites as small as two centimetres. “The festival will promote kite flying and encourage young kite flyers,” Mr. Patil said.
A number of reputed international kite flyers are expected to participate in the festival, including Fred Andre Taylor and Donna Lynn Taylor from Canada; Andres Sokk and Tarmi Kristovald from Estonia, and Jan Helmut Machacek and Axel Frank Kostros from Germany, among others.
The national flyers include Rajesh Nair and Mini Nair from Kerala; Piyush Kharva, Kalpana Kharva, Abdul Rauf and Azam Khan Rauf from Mumbai; Prakash, Srinath L.N., L.M. Suhas, Girish Rao, Prasanna Mishrikoti, Shankar, V.K. Rao, Niranjan Rao, Ashok, Bhat, Sandesh Kaddi and M.S. Kaddi from Karnataka; and Shailesh Mehta and Bhavana Mehta from Gujarat.
Mr. Kulkarni said the interest in kite-flying is growing across the country and the three-day festival at Belgavi records nearly two to three lakh footfalls. However, in Goa, he said the festival has not been able to attract more than 10,000 to 15,000 people. “According to all kite flyers, Belgavi kite festival witnesses the biggest crowd, even though Gujarat kite festival is the most popular,” Mr. Kulkarni said.