It's Belagavi's day up in the sky

Belagavi: There will be a sea of colour over Belagavi on Saturday when some of the best international kite-flyers send their mammoth kites high into the skies at the International Kite Festival being held at Nanawadi ground in the city.

About 50 international kite-flyers including 25 from India, will be participating in the festival, organized by Parivartan Parivar, a local organisation headed by former MLA, Abhay Patil. The event will be held in Belagavi upto January 19 and in Goa on January 20 and 21. This is the sixth successive season the festival is being held in Belagavi. The Goa government offered to hold the event after witnessing the spontaneous response in Belagavi.

A large number of people from neighbouring Maharashtra and north Karnataka witness the festival in Belagavi every year. According to Mr Patil, the international kite flyers taking part in the festival have a rich experience in flying kites in different parts of the world. The flyers design the kites themselves before flying them. The participants include those from the USA, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, UK, Russia, Estonia, Netherlands, France and Italy. They will be joined by a team of 25 well-known kite-flyers from various parts of India.

The festival in Goa will be held at Colva beach in Madgaon (South Goa district) on January 20 and 21 and at Miramar beach, Panjim (North Goa district) on the next two days. The Goa tourism department is lending a helping hand to the organisers. “Unfortunately, we are not getting such help from authorities in Karnataka to hold the event,'' Mr Patil said.

Parivartan Parivar is bearing the huge costs which include travel and accommodation expenses of all the international and Indian flyers in Belagavi and Goa.