4th International kite festival in city on January 13-15

Secunderabad: The 4th Telangana International Kite Festival (TIKF) - 2019 will be held from January 13 to 15 at Parade Grounds. The Government of Telangana, in coordination with the Union Ministry of Tourism, is organizing the festival. The kite-flying tradition during Sankranthi festival has been taking place for many decades in Telangana State. During 2016 and 2017, TIKF was organized at Aga Khan Academy, and in 2018 the kite festival was held at Parade Grounds where around 8-lakh visitors witnessed the event.

TIKF-2019 is a 3-day festival celebrated with fervor, and it coincides with Makara Sankranthi, a harvest festival, to bring regional arts, crafts, cuisines and an array of national and international kites together. It accommodates visitors from different countries. People from about 19 countries – 42 international and 60 national kite flyers – are expected to participate in the festival. Different types of kites of various sizes will be flown during the festival. Various cultural programmes will also be organized to promote the local culture of the state. 

Apart from the kite festival, food courts with various cuisines of Telangana, handicrafts and handloom stalls will also be showcased. An international Sweets Festival will also be organised during TIKF by the Department of Culture and Tourism, Telangana, and Culture Language Indian Connections (CLIC). A large number of delectable sweets from different states and countries will be showcased. More than 1,000 varieties are expected to be prepared by Hyderabadis who originally hail from other states and countries. 

The aim of the sweet festival is to celebrate national integrity and to exchange the Indian culture among the people of various cultures, languages, religions, castes etc.,  All sweets are homemade and business people are not allowed to participate in the event.   Last year, some 1,200 varieties of sweets were prepared and sold by more than 5,000 women, especially housewives of different states and countries living in Hyderabad. More than 7.5 lakh people visited the first international sweet festival held in the last year.