Gandhinagar : It’s that time of the year when the skies over most cities in Gujarat will fill up with colourful kites. To gather people from various states as well as various countries, Gujarat Government has organized International Kite Festival from 06th January, 2019. Governor of Gujarat Mr. O.P. Kohli will inaugurate the 30th International Kite Festival at the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad. Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest while Dy. Chief Minister Nitin Patel, Minister of Tourism Ganpatsinh Vasava and other dignitaries will also be present during the event.
The inauguration will be marked with the Vaidik Surya Stuti Vandna by 200 students of the Bhagvat Vidyapith. Another 2,000 students from municipal schools from across the city, will perform Surya Namaskar during the function. A highlight of the event will be Chief Minister Mr. Rupani and other dignitaries joining the participants in the kite flying session. This year’s International Kite Festival will see the presence of 15 Ambassadors of various countries like Palestine, Libya, Congo, Myanmar, Tunisia, Mali, Zimbabwe, Brunei, Dar-e-salam, Taipei, Rwanda, Malaysia etc., participating in the event. While the sky will be lit up with a host of vibrant and colorful kites in Ahmedabad. The festival will also be held in Surat, Dwarka, Jetpur, Vadodara, Saputara, Rajkot, Vadodara, Kevadia and Dhorado. Among the participants are 151 kite-fliers who have converged upon Gujarat from 45 different countries from across the world. A total of 105 kite-fliers are from 13 different Indian states and around 545 kite-fliers are from 19 different cities of Gujarat.
Another highlight of this years’ International Kite Festival is that a special kite flying event will be held for the first time at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia on January 8 and in the White Rann on January 11 and 12. A special cultural program will be held from January 6 to 14 between 7:30 to 9 every evening which will prove to be a great attraction for tourists and the citizens. Another special attraction is the theme pavilion on Statue of Unity, Seema-Darshan and the Tourist destinations of Gujarat. Almost 20 food stalls, including two stalls by Chattisgarh under the ‘Ek Bharat Shretha Bharat’ initiative, will dish out various delicacies to cater to the taste buds of the visitors. Around 50 stalls of various traditional handicrafts will also add to the charm of the festival.
