The International Kite Festival has began at Surat and Rajkot in Gujarat with kite-flyers from 31 countries set to participate in the week-long event. The festival also known as Uttarayana will be held in Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad city, Bhuj, Porbandar, Modhera and Khambhat cities. As many as 98 kiting experts from 31 countries will display their skills in these cities and towns during the festival. The event is open for the general public. According to the Indian calendar, the festival of Uttarayana marks the advent of summer.

Kiting experts from China, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cambodia and Curacao will participate in the event. They will also participate in the Uttarayan festivities at Ahmedabad on January 14.

Did You Know???

• Kites were first developed in ancient China. Fen Zheng is the Chinese name for the kite.
• The Japanese used large kites to lift tiles among other materials when they were building some of the early shrines and temples.
• Kite flying was banned in Japan in 1760 because too many people preferred to fly kites than work.
• Samuel Franklin Cody who invented the Cody manlifting kite system was the first man to cross the English Channel towed by kites in 1903.
• Commercial kites are generally made of a strong, light plastic such as nylon.