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ANNUAL KITE FESTIVALS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR!!!




   Beat your feet around the globe and all year long to enjoy fanciful, colorful kites filling the near horizon while partaking of the other festivities these celebrations have to offer.  Many that are typical and others that are unique to the theme or locale, at whatever time of year kite enthusiasts gather to fly.





January

   Getting off to flying start we have the International Kite Festival held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.  This kite extravaganza, held on the 14th of the month, is timed to coincide with the change of seasons celebration, Uttarayan or Makar Sakranti, that marks the end of Winter and initiates with joy and jubilation, the return of Spring.
   It is a time of thanksgiving, the slumbering gods are awake and the portals of heaven are opened.  This is a time to celebrate and make merry with a multitude of bright sky-sprites lifted to the heavens from the millions of revelers crowding the rooftops.
    Making use of the "firkees" or rolls of string treated with glue and ground glass, the famous and sometimes dangerous kite fights begin.  An opportunity for complete strangers.  Kite makers and flyers drawn from around the globe for this annual kite holiday, and with the religious celebrants joining in, to make it a jubilant and vivacious festival.
   While in Gujarat, be sure to visit the renowned "Kite Museum of Ahmedabad", for a look at the kite, then and now.





February

   The 8th is kite flying day everywhere!
   In Pakistan the Vassant (or Bansant) Festival held in the Hindu month of Magh (January/February) was once a celebration of colors, lights and kites,  but the kites and even celebrating the return of Spring,  have been banned since 2005.
   The place to be for kite flying fun in February is the largest winter kite celebration in the Midwest, Color the Wind Kite Festival, held in the latter part of the month at Mcintosh Woods State Parke near Ventura, Iowa.






March

   You will need wings on your heels to beat your feet from Iowa to Austin, Texas in time for the Zilker Kite Festival held in the first week of March.
   Haulover Park Kite Festival held mid-month, brings out kite makers and flyers to the sunny Miami Beach, Florida skies.
   Then on to Washington D.C., to end the month by enjoying the annual Smithsonian Kite Festival.  Celebrated for over four decades, this truly international event.  In 2009 the festival had a "green" theme, honoring Mother Earth by celebrating with kites, made from renewable resources and powered by the wind.






April

   Closing out the month, is the Morro Bay Kite Festival.  To get the kite festival started on the right foot, the Sailinan Indians will perform a traditional "Blessing of the Wind" ceremony right after the parade.  Join the fleet of kites in the picturesque setting at the foot of Morro Rock.






May

   Japan's Hamamatsu Festival is held early in May and is the home of the "hatsudako", a birth celebration using kites to honor the child which is then followed by the sound of trumpets calling the sky-warrior to assemble for the kite battles.






June

   Rounding out June is the annual Summer Kite Festival in Lincoln City, Oregon.  Named by Kiteline Magazine as one of the best places to fly kites in North America.  Lincoln City honors that reputation with not one or two, but with three kite festivals each year, including an indoor kite celebration.






July
   Late July and the soothing surf of the Pacific Coast laps over your toes,  after hot-footing it to the Berkely Kite Festival held in Cesar F. Chavez Park at the Marina, on the San Francisco Bay.  The Bay Area Sports Kite League will be organizing the West Coast Kite Champoionships at the festivities.






August

   "Always in August", is the motto of the Washington State International Kite Festival.  Held in Long Beach, Washington.  The site of the only museum dedicated to kites, kite makers and kite fliers in the USA, the "World Kite Museum and Hall of Fame".  Voted the best kite festival in the world, be sure not to miss this event.







September

   The mid-month Family Day Kite Festival is held on the Marina Green, San Francisco's panoramic waterfront park.  Meet at the  Make-a-Kite pavilion and then you're ready for a day of kite flying and professional demonstrations.





October

   The second Sunday in October is always World Kite Day.
   "One Sky One World", has been flying kites around the planet, for peace in the community and the world, since 1986.  Join a local festival or start the first in your area.






November

   All Saints Day ( November 1st) is the annual Sacatepequez Kite Festival celebration day that is perhaps unique among kite holidays.  This festival held near Antigua, Guatemala, always takes place in the cemetery where everyone parties for the day.






December

   In the British Isles, the 13th is the day to get caught up with your kite flying before the Christmas holidays.  With the Great Ouse Kite Flyer's (GOKF) haveing a fly-in at Priory Par, Bedford, Bedforshire and the NKG staging two Xmas fly-ins for the same day: One overlooking the Mersey, Otterspool, South Liverpool, Merseyside and the other at Stainland Recreational Ground, Stainland, near Huddersfield and Halifax, Yorkshire.
   Then the GOKF are back to it on the 27th, with a fly-in at Meadows Country Park, Ham Lane, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.
   This would be the place to give due recognition to the British kite flyer's.  They are dedicated enthusiasts that are officially active every month of the year except January.  This gives them an opportunity to visit the Gujarate Kite Festival in India.

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