Kite Festival, Jaipur

Kite Festivals Tour

Complimenting the spring season associated with life and colourful blossoms, the festival is a time of intense fun and celebration and the city becomes a riot of colour, pomp and pageantry. Kite enthusiasts from all over India and the world compete, aiming to fly their kites highest making it rise well above rooftops onto the skies. Colourful kites of indigo, ochre, red, blue, yellow, green, fushcia, indigo, ochre, pink and orange in various shapes of wasps and mythical birds etc dazzle in the sky. At the ground, there is a kite market that also offers the best local gastronomic deal. Kite exhibition, kite flying training sessions, kite making sessions and traditional folk performances are other entertaining options.

The International Kite Festival is divided into two sections: kite war and friendly kite flying session. In the kite war, participants are in intense rivalry cutting another’s kite strings as they aim to fly highest. Trophies and awards are handed out to the winners. In the exhibition flying, expert kite flyers from all over the world show-off their competency and prowess. The festivities continue even at night when special illuminated kites (tukals) clutter the sky above. It is especially a treat for those attending the first time.

Everyone eagerly await the final day especially the winners who receive their awards at a ceremony held at the Umaid Bhawan Palace’s royal turf. The closing ceremony begins with the release of hundreds of colourful kites by air force helicopters and balloons of vibrant hues by school children. The prize distribution ceremony is followed by a royal farewell dinner with the Maharaja. At the end of the festival, you will be able to get kites from the local kite craftsmen for a penny.

True to the religious inclination of the state, the festival also has some spiritual element. It is held on the eve of Makar Sankranti tentatively from January 14. Thus there are a host of cultural programs of dancing and singing that adds to the fun and attraction of the Desert Kite Festival.