Kites create collage of colours on Hubballi skies

An unusually big lizard, a batman, an octopus, and even a fish were flying in the sky, when the Hubballi sky was for the first time dotted with colourful kites of different shapes and sizes at a time.

School children who visited the BVBCET ground at Vidyanagar in the City on Friday enjoyed a rare opportunity to watch eye-catching kites flown by experts who have taken part in kite festivals held across the globe, while the kite fliers included those from different States and also from different countries.

Stunt-kite making speedy movement with a sound, train kites with hundreds of kites on the tag on the string, ring kite which looked like a parachute, and colourful kites in the shape of dragon, snake and birds were among the kites that pulled the attention at the International Kite Festival held here on Friday.

Fred Taylor from Canada and other kite fliers were not just flying kites, but they also entertained children by blowing bubbles.

Variety

Trent Baker from Australia, along with his parents, was flying a kite in the shape of a big lizard. "It is my third visit to India. We are not just enjoying kite festival, but also the culture of this place," said Mr Baker, an architect by profession.

V K Rao from Bengaluru, who had prepared kites that were used in Kannada films 'Sipayi' and 'Galipata', was with a kite having the photograph of Kulbhushan Jadhav and asking Pakistan to release him. His team had also brought a train kite with 500 kites in one string.

Members of Doddaballapur Galipata Kalasangha were also with different types of kites. "Kite flying is a hobby, and all interested at Doddaballapur came together to form this association 11 years back, and we are taking part in all major kite festivals," Chandrashekhar D L said.

From Surat in Gujarat, Nitesh Lakum, Vickey Vakharia, and others had come with kites including one having 'India' written on it and a kite in Ashok Chakra shape. Ripstop fabric is used to prepare big size kites, they said.

40 kite fliers

In addition to those from Karnataka, Kerala and Gujarat, kite fliers from 12 countries including Australia, Canada, Switzerland, UK, and Turkey also participated in the event. On Saturday (January 20), they will participate in the international kite festival to be held in Belagavi.

Most of the kite fliers observed that the ground was a good place for kite festival, while the wind speed was also sufficient.

Citizens and children who visited the kite festival were also seen taking selfie pictures with kite fliers and kites.

In association with Mangal Bharati, Kshamata NGO and former MLA Abhay Patil, and MP Pralhad Joshi had organised the kite festival. Along with him, Mayor D K Chavan, Deputy Mayor Laxmibai Bijwad, Oxford College Chairman Vasanth Horatti, Abhay Patil, and others also visited the event venue.