An Insight into the Bali’s Kite Festival

Witnessing a sky full of kites in various shapes like fishes, birds, dolphins, gods, lions, mermaids or even a unicorn is surely a mesmerizing scene. The Bali kite’s festival is a major event that takes place annually between the months of July and August. This festival kicks in when the winds start blowing across the beautiful island of Bali. People from every corner of Bali gather together to celebrate this festival. If you are on a trip in Bali in the month of August, don’t forget to witness this fun festival and try best Indian restaurants in Bali.

Culture of Bali Kite Festival

With an aim to preserve the Balinese culture, this international festival is celebrated. Kite flying is a seasonal festival that represents appreciation and respect towards the Hindu gods for an abundant harvest and crops. The part of the tradition which started as festival has turned out to be a big sporting event in Bali. The festival has become a sporting event since the communal youth group known as “Banjar” would come with their respective kite group which is known as “Sekaa Layangan” to compete for the first prize. If you are craving for delectable Indian cuisine, do not try to forget the best Indian dining in Bali on your Bali trip.

Happenings of the Kite Festival

The opening ceremony of the kite festival takes place in July and the closing ceremony takes place in October. There are several small-scale competitions and side events that take place during the festive period, but most of the major events take place in the opening and closing ceremony of the festival. The reason behind choosing this time for the kite festival is that the winds blow from the ocean creates the perfect weather conditions for kite lovers to fly their kites. You might get tired after the kite festival, and also feel hungry, trying Queens of India is the best Indian dining in Bali to satisfy your hunger and re-energize you.

The kiting festivals are held for “new creation” kites. These may include 2-dimensional or   3-dimensional figures and unusual designs ranging from Hindu Gods to motorbikes. Traditional Balinese kites tend to be gigantic, measuring up to 4 meters wide and 10 meters long. There are three categories of kites:

1. Bird-shaped kites are called Janggan.

2. The leaf-shaped kites called Pecukan.

3. The fish-shaped kites which are called Bebean.

The festival welcomes teams from domestic and foreign regions to come and participate. Each time consists of 70-80 members. The main aim of the event is to assemble their kite during the final event and successfully launching it with its colourful tail. While other members of the team would handle flag bearers and flyers. The winning team would be getting large amount of monetary reward.   

Significance of Colour

The significance of colour combination of traditional kite consists of white, red, and black along with yellow. Every colour has a symbolic attached to the Balinese Hindu Trinity, which consists of Brahma (the creator), Vishnu, and Shiva. The red colour stands for Brahma, white stands for Vishnu (the protector) and black stands for Shiva (the destroyer). The yellow colour is added to appreciate eight gods that represent eight directions.

Important Things to Note

There are very high number of tourists that visit Bali in the season in the month of June, July and August. If you want to attend kite festival, here are some tips that will enhance your experience:

• Due to peak season, you might face heavy traffic on the road. Even the prices of local transportationcould be higher. Therefore, it is essential to find suitable means of Transport.
• Reserving accommodation in advance is better than cribbing at the last moments as they might not be able to book hotel rooms when they reach the location of the festival.
• Learning Balinese language would help in local interaction. You could also get information regarding  hidden places on the island

You will get to experience warm hospitality from the natives of the land of the island during this festival You can also build the kites as well as enjoy the thrilling experience of flying kites. Do visit to Queens of India for the best Indian vegetarian cuisine in Bali to satisfy your hunger the best way possible.