(18 Oct 2018) STORY
Music, dance and of course kites - in their thousands.
Now in its 27th year, the International Kite Festival takes place across various cities of Gujarat.
Here in Ahmedabad, the sky is filled with kites of all shapes and sizes drawing inspiration from "Angry Birds" to Bollywood celebrities.
The gentle breeze of the newborn summer is said to be ideal to lift the kites soaring up in the air.
Children and adults enthusiastically pull their kite strings from dawn to dusk to see their kites go rising up.
Many kite enthusiasts from across the world come to Gujarat to take part in the festival, including people like Johan Van Eeckhout from Belgium.
"When you are here at kite festival you could have contact with many, many countries, so relations improves very much," he says.
Dilip Kapadia who has come from Mumbai to Gujarat for the festival, agrees.
"These people (foreigners) who have come here they see our culture here, see our way of living, they come to our home to stay, and stay for two or four days and similarly when we go there they also don't hold back on the hospitality," says Kapadia.
Van Eeckhout is proud to be flying his kite which resembles his country's flag: "You see that it's a Belgium flag, the tube is black because there is air inside, the air is heated by the sun, so it will fly without no wind."
There are many other varied kites, including tribal ones and others of all shapes and sizes.
"I am happy to be present here today to see the kites, this is true Gujarati festival, colourful it shows the strength of Gujarat and India," says Danish Ambassador to India, Freddy Svane.
The festival also showcases the local cuisine and culture of Gujarat.
But mostly, it's a time when kite shops pop-up everywhere and kite sales soar.
The kite strings made by the locals are done in a particular way - they are extremely sharp so they can cut off a competitor's kite strings.
One of the many kite sellers, Mittal Kumar Dutt says it's been a bumper year.
"The sales are good. This time there are lot of new kites, in the big kites there are normal as well as the "doubles kites", in plastic kites also normal and double kites are available. Apart from these, Khambhati kites (special local kites), Chinese kites, Narendra Modi and Obama kites, and Bollywood kites are also there," he says.
The festival of Uttarayan is one of the rare Indian festivals to be celebrated across all religions.
Though it was originally believed to be a special day on the Hindu calendar, it's also thought the idea of flying kites was a concept that arrived with Muslims from Persia. However it has now transcended all religious boundaries.
The four-day international kite festival organised by Gujarat Tourism, kicked off on 9th January in Gujarat.
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