Continuing the trend from last nine years, Vaishnav Parivar NZ Inc. (VPNZ) is bringing back the Indian Kite Festival, as part of the organisation’s cultural activities. This year’s festival will be held on Sunday, January 15 at a new venue—Eastdale Reserve, Avondale, next to Avondale College on Rosebank Road.
With growing popularity year by year, the festival is also growing in numbers. This year about 9000 people attended the event, and the organisers are expecting even more next year.
While these people are mostly from the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Fiji), more and more locals (Europeans, Maori and Chinese, and Pacific Islanders) are also increasingly joining and celebrating the festivities.
Significance of Kite Festival
Makarsakranti or Uttarayan (falls on January 14) is the day when the sun starts to travel towards North marking the decline of winter (in Northern Hemisphere), and the days become longer. It also marks the arrival of Spring in India and is celebrated with kite flying in many parts of the country.
The fascination and the fun associated with the kite flying cuts across age groups and communities. It is a competitive fun sport where families enjoy, not only flying kite but also outdoing rival’s kite as well.
VPNZ imports kites and threads from India each year to be made available for sale at the festival. There will be various food and other stalls, and entertainment for children such as the kiddy castle and slide, merry go round, face painting, drawing and colouring competition and live performances.
There will also be a chance to buy raffle tickets to win a holiday package for two with five-day accommodation and other attractive prizes. The festival has indeed become a big day out for families.
VPNZ is a charitable entity registered under the New Zealand Charities Act 2005 and operating from Blockhouse Bay in Auckland. It has more than 250 registered members with their core activities as religious, cultural and sports.