The Colombo International Kite Festival opening at Galle Face Green this weekend will bring 80 foreign kite flyers from 30 countries and more than 1,500 local participants, organisers say, as the event is repositioned as a tourism draw.

International participation is up about 30 percent on previous editions, and what began as a one-day celebration has been extended into a week-long cultural and educational programme taking in kite-building workshops, a vintage vehicle parade, night kite displays and cultural excursions.

The festival is organised in partnership with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka Police and the Colombo Municipal Council.

Weekend programme

A vehicle parade runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, pairing close to 200 classic and vintage cars with international kite flyers on a route from Galle Face Green across the city to Port City. A separate kite-flying event for diplomats and international media takes place at Port City on Saturday evening.

The main festival follows on Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Galle Face Green. It gives way at 6:30 p.m. to what organisers describe as Sri Lanka’s first Night Kite Festival, with illuminated kites flown against the evening sky, and then a musical concert backed by the Avatar Band running until midnight alongside a food festival opposite the green.

Ahead of the main weekend, kite-building and flying workshops were held for more than 630 children aged eight to 15, led by expert flyers from Australia, France and China.

“An international kite festival promotes tourism and culture exchange,” said Thai kite educator Samoorjit Spaulding, one of the visiting participants. “But more importantly, an international kite festival also highlights friendship between countries — bringing people of different nationalities and cultures together as one to share the sky in this beautiful Sri Lanka.”

Derana Media Network Chief Operating Officer Madhawa Madawala said the kites would “carry with the message to the world that Sri Lanka is open, welcoming, ready to welcome visitors from every corner of the globe.”

Police have announced traffic and parking arrangements for both days, deploying about 1,000 officers including 300 on traffic duty and 200 in plain clothes. The aviation authority has separately warned the public against flying kites near airports.

Source: EconomyNext.