Kite flyers from 25 countries coming for Borneo International Kite Festival
BINTULU: The 13th Borneo International Kite Festival 2017 will be held at Bintulu Old Airport site from Sept 27 to Oct 1.
About 121 kite flyers from 25 countries throughout the world will be participating in this year’s edition, said Bintulu Development Authority ( BDA) general manager Rodziah Morshidi.
The opening ceremony at 9.30am on Sept 30 is expected to be officiated by Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg.
The highlight of the event is the record breaking attempt for the ‘Longest wind garden street’ in the Malaysia Book of Records ( MBR) with 1,200 wind kites of all shapes and sizes.
“This is an iconic event for Bintulu and we have been organising this for 13 years. It is an annual event which is popular in Bintulu and I am proud to say that Bintulu is the only place in the state organising the international kite flying event,” Rodziah said during a press conference at Wisma Bintulu yesterday.
She reported that for the past 13 years, the kite flying event has created four MBR records: f lying 1,6555 kites simultaneously for 20 minutes in 2008, f lying 92 train kites for 20 minutes in 2010; f lying 2,550 kites in 2013, and longest arch kite tunnel of about 500m long with 2,500 kites in 2014.
She hoped this year’s kite flying festival will be better with the support of the people.
“I urge people from all walks of life to join us in making this kite flying event a greater success,” she said.
In last year’s edition, over 200,000 spectators turned up at the festival site.
According to Rodziah, 25 countries have confi rmed their participation this time around namely China, England, Japan, Vietnam, Italy, Sweden, Australia, Turkey, India, France, Switzerland, Taiwan, Singapore, Belgium, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, New Zealand, Estonia, Colombia, Malaysia, Korea, Russia, Spain and Portugal.
The national participation comes from Johor Bolong Kite Team, Sarawak, Pulau Pinang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, Perlis, Kedah, Team Impian Melaka, Kelab Pelayang Pasir Gudang, Windancer Kuala Lumpur, Johor Mersing Kite Team, De Junction Kite Melaka, Fly and Smile KL and Key Force Team Perlis.
Among the activities outlined for the 5- day event are modern and traditional kite performance, giant kites show by international kite flyers, kite making workshop, stunt kite and revolution kite performance, cooking contest, children colouring contest, singing contest and cultural performance and lollipop drop.
The trade and expo will open from Sept 27 to Oct 1.