International Kite Festival in Gujarat – Uttarayan
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| International Kite Festival in Gujarat – Uttarayan | |
|---|---|
 Electric Zoo Festival 2011 | |
| Dates | Labor Day Weekend |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Website | [1] |
Introduction
Every year, Gujarat celebrates more than 2,000 festivals each year, the Uttarayan festival is one of the most important of them all.Nowadays, months before the festival, homes in Gujarat begin to manufacture kites for the festival. The festival of Uttarayan marks the day when winter begins turning to summer, according to the Hindu calendar. It is the sign for farmers that sun is back and that harvest season is approching. It is what we called Makar Sankranti. At this day, a lot of Gujurat cities organized kite competition between their citizens, and they all compete to their neighbors. In this region of India, Uttarayan is such a huge celebration that it has become a local holiday for two days.
Location
The kite festival takes place in Gujarat India. The current name the festival has is the festival of Uttarayan. The festival is celebrated in many cities of Gujarat like Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Nadiad and many other cities. However, the International Kite Event takes place in Ahmedabad( Kite capital of Gujarat) which accommodates visitors from many international destinations.
During the festival week the markets are flooded with kite buyers and sellers. During the festive week shops are open 24 hours with buyers negotiating and buying in bulk. Many families in Ahmadabad start making kites in home and setup small shops in their home itself.
Dates
The festival takes place on 14th January of each year during the Makar Sankranti and continues until the 15th of January.
History
The symbolism of this festival is to show the awakening of the gods from their deep sleep. Through India's history, it is said that India created a tradition of kite flying due to the kings or Nawabs who found the sport entertaining and as a way to display their skills and power. It began as being a sport for kings, but over time, the sport began to reach the masses.
Participants
Although the idea of flying kites to celebrate Uttrayan was introduced by Muslims from Persia, today regardless of your background or beliefs, you are welcome to fly kites with everyone else in Gujarat in January. Most visitors arrive from around India, from Gujarat itself or another state. However, many international visitors come from around the world, such as Japan, Italy, UK, Canada, Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, the USA, Malaysia, Singapore, France, China, and many more to take part in the celebration.