International Kite Festival

A popular festival in Gujarat, the International Kite Festival or Uttarayan marks the day when winter begins turning into summer. Generally celebrated on 14 January, the entire skies in the state are filled with kites from dawn to dusk. Almost everyone takes a break from their normal routine, and heads to the their rooftop to fly kites and compete with their neighbours. Since 1989, this festival has been hosted by Ahemdabad as a part of the official celebration of Uttarayan, bringing master kite makers and flyers from all over the world.

In past years, master kite makers from Malaysia have brought their wau-balang kites, llayang-llayanghave come from Indonesia, kite innovators from the USA have arrived with giant banner kites, and Japanese rokkaku fighting kites have shared the skies with Italian sculptural kites, Chinese flying dragons, and the latest high-tech modern wonders.