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Kite lovers to celebrate festival tomorrow

DUBAI — Heralding the advent of the spring season, kite lovers in the UAE are all geared up to celebrate the festival in style this weekend (March 2 and 3) at Malabas Cricket Ground (behind Sahara Centre).

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Mohammed Amin, Captain of the Kite Club, said that the festival has been celebrated in Dubai for the past six years.

“We try our best to add the same colour and glitter to the festival as is seen in Pakistan and India,” he explained.

Each year, kite lovers from all over the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the other GCC get together to enjoy their favourite sport — kite flying. Amin said that though the club was established in 1978, it still had only 50 members.

“I have been part of this club since I was seven years old, and have been flying kites for over 30 years now,” he said.

The membership fee to join the club is Dh10 which is used to buy kites from Pakistan.

“We have hundreds of people attending the festival and it is like a huge, colourful fair with people having a blast with kites,” he said.

“When the festival was initiated, we started by flying kites in Sharjah’s old Immigration Road area. When it got populated, we moved to Al Khan area from where we have now moved to Malabas Cricket Ground, while open grounds in Sonapur are also used on the weekends,” explained Amin.

He also said that each weekend, teams from Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Muscat and Dubai get together for a competition. Stalls are also set up for people to enjoy snacks while watching the kite competition.

At the festival grounds, kites are available from Dh1 upwards, depending on their size and quality. ‘Dor’ or the string used to fly the kite is also available for different rates.

“The festival is only approved after special permission is acquired from the municipality because people leave the ground littered,” he said.