Four-day Kite Festival a thumping success

The second Aspire International Kite Festival attracted more than 40,000 visitors, who enjoyed a wide range of technical feats showcased by some of the world’s best professional kite flyers.

The festival drew to a close on Friday evening, capping a “unique spectacle and four remarkable days of kite flying”, Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) said in a statement.

“For four days, the second Aspire International Kite Festival in Aspire Park proved to be a wonderful and vibrant atmosphere. Visitors were able to enjoy a hugely varied programme of community events and activities, offering something for everyone and people of all ages,” the statement noted.

More than 40,000 visitors attended the festival over four days

Mohamed Khalifa al-Suwaidi, chief executive officer of AZF; Kholoud Elhail, chairperson of the Organising Committee of the festival; Ali al-Mahmoud, head of Community Engagement at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy; and Abdulla Khalil al-Muhannadi, events manager at Ooredoo Qatar; took part in the awards ceremony held to recognise the winners and participants of this year’s event. 
Commenting on the festival’s success, al-Suwaidi said: “We’re very proud of this year’s huge success. This event has established the popularity of a new sport and fixture in Qatar’s annual sporting calendar. Its success provides further proof of AZF’s capabilities and expertise in hosting major international sports and cultural activities."
Al-Hail added, “We’re very happy with this year’s turnout and the growing levels of participation from local schools and international kite flyers. This year’s Aspire International Kite Festival was so popular that people were asking us on social media to extend it for one more day. This is something we’ll take into consideration when planning next year’s third Aspire International Kite Festival.” 
Eastern and Western cultures came together to take part in this year’s festival, represented by 102 professional kite flyers from 23 countries. International teams taking part in the event competed in four award categories: the Best Design and Innovation Award, Biggest Kite Award, Longest Kite Award and the Best National Flag Award. Teams from China, France, Pakistan and Mexico won each of these award categories, respectively.
This year marked the first time that a team from Qatar had ever taken part in a kite flying festival. The team from Qatar comprised locals and expatriates and featured the youngest participants in the festival. In recognition of their efforts and involvement, the festival’s jury presented the team from Qatar with an Encouragement Award, which was handed over by al-Suwaidi. 
The Italian Kite Federation also extended an invitation to the team from Qatar to participate in one of the largest international festivals held in Italy, due to take place this year from April 20 to May 1.
The jury was made up of a number of renowned figures associated with kite flying. They included Italian painter, sculptor and theatre scenographer Claudio Capelli; American kite artist, painter, graphic designer and aerial sculptor George Peters; lifelong German kite artist Franck Shwiemann; painter and former Canadian indoor cycling track champion Robert Trepanier; Japanese garden designer Makoto Ohye, who has devoted much of his life to developing a culture of kite art in his country; and French wind fan artist Michel Gressier, famous for creating environment-friendly installations.
Another major success for the festival was the level of involvement of young students from around the country who took part in kite-flying workshops that were delivered by experts from the Singapore Kite Association. More than 550 boys and girls from 16 schools took part in these.
During the workshops, the students were given the opportunity to design, decorate and build their own kites and submitted entries for an inter-school competition held as part of the festival, giving them the chance to win prizes. 
Oscar Academy won first prize with QR50,000, second-place winner Muaz Bin Jabal Independent School for Boys was awarded QR30,000, while third-place winner Halima Al-Saadeia Independent School for Girls received a QR20,000 prize. All winners were announced during the festival’s closing ceremony.
During the closing ceremony, AZF also awarded the acclaimed Canadian kite flying coach, Robert Trepainer, for providing training workshops for 60 local schoolteachers back in November 2017 to prepare them for this year’s event. Singaporean coach Gadis Widiyati, from the Singapore Kite Association, was also recognised for her efforts in providing training workshops for the team from Qatar last January. 
Further, the festival highlighted AZF’s support for small businesses, with a number of local companies promoting their products and services to festival-goers. These included several Qatari small businesses serving a range of food and drink options, with food & beverage (F&B) sales at the festival amounting to more than QR1mn, the AZF statement added.
A photography competition running on social media was launched to capture perspectives of the festival through the eyes of visitors and participants themselves. 
Entrants took part by posting their photographs online using the hashtag #AspireKiteFest. A panel of judges, including representatives from the Qatar Photographic Society, will select the winners on March 21.
A poster competition also encouraged youngsters to express their creative side. Several hundred children aged 5-13 years took part by creating illustrations of a kite in the skies above Aspire Park. Winners of the children’s poster competition will also be announced on March 21.