A large number of people came to watch the Kite Festival on the Malpe Beach here on Monday.
Kites of different shapes and sizes and in a variety of colours dotted the sky. A big round spinner kite attracted the attention of on-lookers as the kite flyers tried to fly it several times on the beach.
Besides this, there were kites in the shapes of tiger, teddy bear, heart, ladybug, rabbit, panda, frog, snake, octopus, Charlie Chaplin, dragon and owl. Then, during the evening, LED kites of different designs went up into the sky. Focus lights were switched on so that visitors on the beach could see the kites flying in the evening sky.
To popularise kite flying, a workshop was also held on the beach. As many as 60 persons participated in the workshop. Different water sports and games were another attraction. Bungee jumping near the Watch Tower attracted large crowds.
Cultural programmes by different troupes added to the pleasant evening on the beach. Food stalls offered different types of fish dishes and other vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes to the visitors.
Earlier in the day, Dinakar Babu, president of the Zilla Panchayat, who inaugurated the Kite Festival, said that kite flying was an important event a couple of decades ago.
But in the last few years, youngsters had given up kite flying and started using modern gadgets. Events such as this one would go a long way in kindling desire among the youngsters in flying kites, he said.
K. Raghupati Bhat, MLA, released white balloons to mark the inauguration of the festival. Sheela K. Shetty, vice-president of the Zilla Panchayat, Nalini P. Rao, president of the Taluk Panchayat, were present.
Sudhesh Shetty, agency head in-charge of development of Malpe Beach and St. Mary’s Island, said that he expected 35,000 to 40,000 footfalls on the beach for the event.