The age old sport of flying kites may make its presence in a different avatar in Delhi this time. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) will host a two-day kite festival at a sustainability-themed bamboo park here next week.  International kite festival ‘Patang Utsav’ will be held on January 13-14 at ‘Baansera’ bamboo park, located at Sarai Kale Khan on banks of river Yamuna.

 The festival will have major attractions including a theme pavilion, which will be set up for displaying “history of kites, in the form of a kite gallery showing use of kites during times of war, fighter kites, significance of kites in India,” a senior official said.  A classical ‘Patang Bazaar’ would also be put up for people to buy kites, the DDA said in a statement, adding, “professional kitists will be coming to the festival showcasing innovative kites”. Additionally, traditional food and handicrafts stalls shall also be set up for public along with cultural performances by folk artists show casing India’s cultural diversity.

 Exclusive activities have been planned for kids as well in the form of a kids zone, the officials said. “It will be an excellent recreational opportunity for people to visit the festival along with their family and kids to enjoy the festival on the auspicious occasion of Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Bihu and Pongal,” it added. Makar Sankranti falls on January 14, and a large number of people fly kites in various parts of the country on that day.

 To enhance the ecological character of Yamuna floodplains and make it more people friendly by making it attractive as a recreational and cultural venue, Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena had laid the foundation of ‘Baansera’ in August 2022 and it was developed in six months.

More than 25,000 special variety of Bamboo saplings, brought from Assam were planted here. ‘Baansera’ aims at providing the people of Delhi with the much needed public spaces in the capital on one hand, and also ensure that the rich biodiversity of the flood plain is preserved and maintained, the official said.

DDA’s projects for restoration and rejuvenation of the floodplains of the Yamuna are being carried out as an initiative to enhance the ecological character of the floodplains and to make them accessible to the public at large. The ‘Baansera’ project, conceived and led by the LG himself, will take such initiatives to the next level, the officials said. In September 2023, Saxena had inaugurated a musical fountain at ‘Baansera’.