Costs soar, not kites

Falcon and falconer

The ‘Garden City’ which used to host mega kite festivals in the past has now made way for Belgaum, thanks to the shrinking lung space and exorbitant rent charged for open space.

An international kite festival will be held in Belgaum on January 16 and 17, 2011. Teams from across the country and foreign nations will participate in the two-day international kite festival. Flying kites attached with lamps and lights will be the festival’s attraction.

Belgaum South BJP MLA Abhay Kumar Patil is sponsoring the festival, which is organised by the Bangalore-based Kite Clinic Club, a forum of kite fliers. Addressing the media in Bangalore on Wednesday Abhay Kumar Patil said the event would attract tourists from both India and abroad to Belgaum.

Hundreds of people from north Karnataka travel to Ahmedabad, Hyderabad to take part in kite festivals. Thus, if a similar event is held in Belgaum, numerous people from various parts of the nation would visit the City, he added.

The kite festival will be promoted in Goa to attract tourists to Belgaum and Bijapur, he said.

The last time Bangalore hosted the festival was in 2008, said V K Rao, founder secretary of the Kite Clinic Club.

“Jakkur airfield was the venue two years ago. However, now it is difficult to rent that place due to high rent. Also, we cannot hire the Palace Grounds as the rent per day is Rs one lakh. Considering these problems Abhay Kumar came came forward to host the festival in Belgaum.” he said.

No registration fee

Moreover, there is no registration fee as it is not a competition. Large myriad coloured kites as big as 200 sqft will dot the skies during the two days of the festival.

Price of a kite may range from Rs 4,000 to Rs 15,000 depending on the quality, he said.

Different varieties of kites including - dragon kites, train kites, stunt kites, air inflated kites, eagle kites, kathakali kites, thunder kites - will be flown at the international kite festival. The organisers have invited 30 teams from Karnataka, 40 participants from different states in the country and 15 international participants from UK, Germany, Brazil and France. The organisers will bear travel expenses of the participating teams.

Kite lovers who wish to take part in the festival along with their kites can contact V K Rao at 98440-44199 or email at - [e-mail]