Kite festival adds dash of colour to Miramar beach

PANAJI

: The night sky above

Miramar

beach was full of twinkling lights on Tuesday night, not from the stars, but from the light-emitting diode (LED) kites being flown as part of the fourth two-day International

Kite

Festival being held on the beach.

“The response was highly positive right from when we started out in the year 2015, not only from visitors, but also from domestic and international participants. This year, we have kite flyers from 10 countries, including New Zealand, France, Estonia, Singapore, besides participants from five states in India,” one of the event coordinators,

Ashok Naik

, said.

“This is my second year here and it’s wonderful to see such enthusiasm,” the festival’s senior-most participant,

Sarath Kingsley

, said.

The Australian has been flying kites for over four decades now. With several awards to his name and international recognition from many quarters, he specialises in making and flying high-wind kites.

For Bob C and David from the

United Kingdom

, kite-flying is akin to worship.

“The perfect wind and the proper kite makes the string sing. For me, flying a kite is like going to church. That’s my way of offering my thanks to the universe,” David said. He designs every single one of the black and white kites that he flies.

The festival, which is replete with a brilliant display of several different kinds of kites, including multi-strings, inflatables, high-winds and low-winds, among others, comes to a close on Wednesday.