Ahmedabad, 4 January 2014

Gujarat government today announced the details of annual International Kite Festival. The year 2014 edition of Kite festival will be held during 7-14 January. Over 130 kite masters from 27 countries and various states of India will participate in this festival. The festival will be organized in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Saputara, Mandvi and Dhordo Rann of Kutch. Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate a special theme pavilion on 12 January at Sabarmati river front in Ahmedabad. National and international kite masters will fly their kites on 12 January at Sabarmati river front. These details were shared by Tourism minister Shri Saurabh Patel. He said tourist traffic has increased by 300% compared to year 2002. While national tourism growth is 7%, Gujarat is witnessing 14% growth.

Official release:

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the annual International Kite Festival-2014 at the Sabarmati Riverfront here on Sunday, January 12 at 9 a.m. He will also take round of various stalls and other attractions, besides the Theme Pavilions to be inaugurated the previous evening.

Other highlights of the three-day festival include march-past by competitors from different parts of the country and abroad, acrobatics and ‘Surya Namaskar’ by 2,000 students of Bhagwat Vidyapith.

The kiters will also fly ‘tukkal’ (oil lamps or candles tied to kites) at the same venue after sunset, all the three days at the same venue. A cultural function has been organized on January 13, also at the same venue. It will reach its feverish pitch on January 14, coinciding with Makar Sankranti being celebrated all over the country.

On January 14, the kiters and tourists will be exposed to Ahmedabad’s traditional culture of people living in closely-knit houses in the lanes and bye-lanes of the city, locally called ‘Pol’, and to flying kites from the terrace.

According to Gujarat’s Tourism Minister Saurabh Patel, the international kite festival, jointly organized by Gujarat Government and Tourism Department, is drawing more competitors and visitors with the passage of every year. The festival is involving participation of greater number of artisans in the form of providing jobs and improving the state’s economy.

In Gujarat, the Minister said, the kite festival will be an eight-day affair from January 7 to 14, 2014.