Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan is the very first festival of the year and one of the most awaited festivals in Gujarat. Different states have different names for this festival. Also, the style of celebration is different. In Gujarat, kite flying is the most famous attraction of Uttarayan. To celebrate Kite flying, kite festivals are organized across Gujarat. The international kite festival of Ahmedabad is the most famous amongst all. I visited the Kite Festival at Ahmedabad 2 times. In this blog post I have listed down the main attractions of the International Kite Festival, Ahmedabad.

Kite festival at Sabarmati river front

The International kite festival of Ahmedabad is organized at the beautiful Sabarmati River front. In addition to localities, flyers from several countries participate in the international kite festival. It is a large-scale event and thousands of people come here to witness the different shapes of kites. I was surprised to see different shapes of the kites flying in the sky

I kept wondering how much effort must have required to make them and to get them flying. People were struggling to afloat the kites of such large size into the sky. But it was sight to behold once these gigantic kites were afloat in the sky. Visitors like cheering and capturing the kites in their cameras. The environment at the festival was amazing.

Cultural Show at Sabarmati river front

As the sun sets, the complete Sabarmati River front is illuminated with colorful lights, it is a treat to the eyes. The River front, the bridges all are covered with lights making the whole area more beautiful. A huge stage is setup with ample amount of seating space. The cultural program is filled with entertainment. It showcases dance performances on the Gujarati songs. It is a good place to experience the Guajarati culture. There were performances on the Bollywood songs as well. One thing to note was that majority performances had some hidden social message. The dance performances kept me glued to my seat.

The Exhibition area

Near to the kite flying area, there is an exhibition area. The exhibition area offers food, shopping, photo galleries and much more. It had stalls from various organizations like BSF, statue of Unity, Gujarat tourism and others. Each of these stalls had some information at display about there organization. Especially, I liked the Gujarat tourism exhibition area, where they gave information about different tourist attractions of Gujarat with Pictures.

Furthermore there are stalls selling beautiful handicraft items. Also, there are some activities going on like painting, sketching, etc. Last but not the least, there are some amazing food stalls offering all sorts of street foods. The exhibition area is a full of stalls and activities and it kept me engaged for about 1-2 hours.

The flower park at Sabarmati River front

The Sabarmati River front also has a really beautiful flower park. Apart from regular flowers, you get to see various hybrid flowers here. The flower park is very well-maintained with ponds, flowers, gardens, lights and ample of spaces to sit and enjoy. This flower park is filled with beautiful flower art during the Kite festival. The flower park had different objects, mannequins decorated with colorful flowers. I haven’t seen such art before. This park is a must visit when you attend the kite festival. Entry fee is ₹20

Visit to Kite Market

All the markets in the city are filled with kite sellers and buyers during the festival. But I wanted to visit the most famous kite market. I got to know that Raipur kite market in the old city is a famous kite market. I visited the Raipur Kite market at about 9:30 PM and it was full of people, it was crazy.

A series of shops selling Kite flying gear. You’ll find variety of Kites, kite strings, Firkis, etc., basically this market is all about kites. The jam-packed market is a testimony to kite flying craze in Gujarat. Also, it shows how much employment and business is created by the Uttarayan festival.

international kite festival of Ahmedabad

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