Drachen Board members, Scott Skinner and
Jose Sainz attended the Goa Kite Festival hosted by Ajay Prakash.

Welcome dinners were on Thursday night, complete with a workshop of art kites at the Goa Art College.

Outdoor kite flying and outdoor kite media performances were held on Miramar Beach colminating to a sundown concert.

BIG KITES were featured on Sunday, as well as the Fighter Kite Freakout/Manja Madness!

 

Press Release for the Event:

Source: International Film Festival of India
Tuesday, December 07, 2004 05:06 PM IST (11:36 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Entertainment; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Media & entertainment

The 3rd International Goa Kite Carnival Comes with Kites! Dj! Live Music! & Much More as Part of the 35th IFFI Goa 2004
Come Fly with Me!

Panaji, Goa, India, Tuesday, December 07, 2004 — (Business Wire India)
This season, there is more to Goa than just partying and holidaying! Goa is becoming the melting point of International events but with an Indian flavor showcasing India at its best, combining the cultural heritage of east and the west – be it films, theatre, music or kites! Entertainment Society of Goa in association with the Department of Tourism, Govt. will present the 3rd International Goa Kite Carnival at Miramar Beach, from Friday, 10th December to Sunday, 12th December.

The event has been organized and conceptualized by Mr. Ajay Prakash, CEO of Nomad Travels and the Nomad Heritage Trust. Indian Airlines are the travel partners, whose support has been invaluable since the festival started in 1997. After flying from the Taj Mahal and the forts and Palaces of Rajasthan, it has been especially gratifying to bring the event to the sun-kissed beaches of Goa. The Goa Kite Carnival has enjoyed unmitigated success over the last two years; reconfirming the fact that there is no place like Goa and the people of Goa are simply wonderful!!

Mr. Mathany Saldhana, Minister for Tourism, Govt. of Goa, has kindly consented to be the chief guest for the opening ceremony on 10th Dec.

Kite fliers are coming from U.S.A, U.K., France, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Singapore, Germany and Australia and of course from all over India. The founder and President of the Drachen Foundation, Scott Skinner along with Jose Sainz will be conducting a kite making workshop, exhibiting rare kites and presenting a film on kites and whales! ‘Drachen’ is German for kites and the foundation, based in Seattle, is totally devoted to spreading kite knowledge across the globe. Its members travel the world over, recording and preserving kite traditions of the world, writing and editing books on kites, conducting kite making workshops and exhibiting rare kites. Scott and Jose will conduct the workshop for students of Art & Architecture and media at Goa college of Architecture in Panaji on the 9th of December from 5.00 p.m to 7.00 p.m. A rare exhibit of their kites will be seen at the venue from the 10th to the 12th of Dec. On Sat 11th Dec at 6.30 p.m. Scott will present the film at the open-air screen on the Miramar Beach.

Power kiting or stunt kite flying will take place on all the three days. The Festival will open on Friday, 10th December at 4.00 p.m. Kite surfing, kite boarding, kite-ballet, kite buggying, flying a revolution kite, flying the big kites with two line or four, will be some of the spectacular stunts performed on the beach. In kite surfing, the flier flies a kite from his surfboard while sailing in the sea. Kite boarding is done on land, literally flying a kite while skating. Kite-ballet is performed by two or more fliers, which is synchronized kite flying to music. Kite-buggying is flying a kite while driving a three-wheeled buggy.

A Revolution kite is a stack of seven kites flown together. Babu Khan, an Indian Kite maker and flier will fly 200 kites in a single line. The four-member team from Mangalore is bringing spectacular kites in the shape of Kathakali dancers and a huge Dragon. The team from Singapore is bringing their own spectacular oriental dragon plus other exotic kites.

Each country will display its own distinctive, spectacular kites in every conceivable shape, design and colour, ranging from birds, bees, airplanes, human forms, pre-historic creatures to modern geometric design. Nicholas Chorier from France is an aerial kite photographer. His camera is attached to his kite while he controls it through a remote control from the ground. This aerial camera captures the action on the ground.

Musical concerts with live bands and DJ will keep the Goa Kite carnival rocking after sundown. On 10th December i.e. the opening day, Sivamani, India’s ace percussionist, will entertain the crowd with his dynamic performance. On 11th December, local bands will entertain the crowds and on 12th December i.e. the closing night, ‘The Music Company’, an extremely talented local band will keep the crowds rocking.

Kites bring smiles to people’s faces, bring joy, connect people. The Goa Kite Carnival hopes to do all, while connecting Goa globally! Clean, healthy entertainment for the family is what the Kite Carnival is all about.

Pictures of the 2nd Goa Kite Carnival held in Jan 2004 can be downloaded from www.nomad-travels.com/goakites.htm

About IFFI
The 35th International Film Festival of India is organized by the Entertainment Society of Goa, formed and registered by the Government of Goa. The Chairman of this Society is the Chief Minister of Goa, Mr. Manohar Parrikar and Vice-Chairman is Power Minister Digamber Kamat. The century old GMC building in Panaji has been made the administrative headquarter of IFFI – Goa 2004 and the Kala Academy is the main venue of IFFI 2004. The opening ceremony took place at The Dinanath Mangeshkar auditorium in this complex on 29th November 2004 and closing ceremonies of IFFI 2004 will be at the same venue. The auditorium has seating capacity of 975 seats. It houses the media centre, press conference room, an art gallery, two amphi theatres, etc.

A wide array of events viz., beach screenings, live music shows, animating the newly constructed promenade next to River Mandovi with Stilt walkers, fire eaters, jazz shows, palmists, kite festival, vintage car rally, etc., have been planned around the film festival that would give a festive look to Panaji City.

Media contact details
Mr. Sanjay Dhavalikar,
International Film Festival of India,
+91 (83) 2242 8111,
iffigoa@sancharnet.in

Mr. Franko Williams / Shirley C D’silva,
IPAN,
Mobile: +91 (0) 9822148962, +91 (0) 9870060007,
franko@ipan.com,shirley@ipan.com

Mr. Ajay Prakash / Mr. Shailendra Mehta,
Nomad Travels,
Mobile: +91 (0) 9821037350, +91 (0) 9322842876

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