Auckland’s Eastdale Reserve in Avondale was the venue once again for the annual Kite Festival which take place every year on Lohri and Makar Sankranti festival. As per the organisers of this annual event Vaishnav Parivar, this year the festival is back again after a gap of two years and around 7000-8000 people took part in the half daylong event. People flocked to the venue in hordes with friends and families and made lot of noise flying kites and enjoying the beautiful sunny day. The kite festival-2024 in Auckland this year was observed on Saturday 13 January. There were several food stalls at the venue and people enjoyed delicacies on different stalls along with flying kites and enjoying the sun. Many cultural performances were presented for the visitors and spot competition for children. Prizes were given to the Kite flying winners in different categories.
Kite festival is a big event in the northern part of India and millions of people across many states of north India come on their roof tops from early morning to hang around till late in the evening. The kite battle is fought between rival teams very passionately and fiercely amid lots of music, dance, and loud shouts of ‘who kattaa’ on cutting the cord the rival team. While a couple of players will raise and fly the kites and wrangle with neighbouring kite flying team, a group of friends and family members are always ready to make noise when the rival kite gets cut. Indian immigrants take their tradition, culture, and festivals in all parts of the world wherever they go to, and the Auckland Kite-Festival is one classic example of this. The kite festival is typically celebrated on 14 January on Makar Sankranti day when as per Hindu calendar when Sun transits from zodiac sign of Sagittarius to Capricorn. This transition of Sun is known as Uttarayan and is considered very auspicious by the Hindu belief system. This is also time for change of season and end of the cold season in north India when crops start getting ready for harvesting.

In India the change of season is always the time for festivities, people would gather to celebrate the harvesting time, they sing and dance and light bonfire to ward off evil spirits. Prayers are done for a bountiful harvest season and the bonfire is lit after dusk when all the family members and friends celebrate together. Today Kite flying tradition may have taken the form of fun, enjoyment and family get togethers but the legend behind the celebration is to ward of all worries and sorrows of the past and make a fresh start in life. Hence giving a spiritual dimension to the tradition of kite flying by throwing away all negative aspects of life into sky through the kite.
The present-day kite flying has turned into big industry in India and abroad and one gets to see a wide range of small and big kites with lots of astonishing designs. Kites are attached to a spool of glass shard coated string called ‘manja’ that is very sharp and can cut your fingers and of course the rival kites with elan. Kite flying is centuries old tradition in India and despite being attached to Hindu festival, it has now transcended any social and religious boundaries. People of all faiths and belief celebrate and enjoy kite flying and many prizes and competitions are now held around this festival. There is no rich or poor, small, or big on the day of kite flying and everyone simply wards of their worries to the skies on this day. -Yugal Parashar