High as a kite

      Foreign and locally-made fliers dazzle the crowds at the first international kiting event held in Vietnam.
It was two days and nights of high-flying fun at the International Kite Festival in Vung Tau this week. Local artist Nguyen Thanh Van’s Flying Vietnam was honored as the event’s longest kite.
The soaring 666-meter creation was handmade by Van and his Ho Chi Minh City kite club. But Van says it’s not even finished yet.
“We’ll expand it to 1,000 meters for the International Kite Festival in Hanoi next year.”
The capital city is set to organize the event as part of celebrations for the 1,000 anniversary of its founding in October next year.
“The foreign kites here are also very impressive,” said Van. “They’re beautiful and high quality. They’re not only huge, but also light and easily portable.”
At the festival’s opening ceremony at Ho Tram Beach Resort and Spa Friday, kite artists from 17 nations and regions performed with ground-kites, couple-massage-kites, somersault-kites and many others.
Since then, the skies have been filled with kites day and night.
International players, Vietnamese impressions
For foreign kite fliers, the festival in the southern beach city of Vung Tau is one of many international kiting events they take part in each year.
Many foreign kite builders participate in 15 to 20 kite festivals per year.
Malaysia alone hosts three major international kite festivals each year: Pasir Gudang, Kelatan and Sevawak.
Some of the kite fliers that make the rounds on the annual festival circuit also run their own kite building companies, like David Gomberg, who is not only president of American Kite Fliers Association, but also chairman of the World Sport Kite Championship Organization.
His business, Gomberg Kite Production, trades in kites worldwide.
The festival has welcomed several other major global kiting names, such as Peter Lynn from New Zealand, whose Kuwaiti flag kite currently holds the Guinness World Record for largest kite ever built.
Indian representative Ashgar Hussian Belylim is also president of Sun City Kite club, one of the oldest kite clubs in the world.
Vietnamese-Canadian Lam Hoac has become world famous for building kites that can fly indoors and without wind.
Then there is 22-year-old Andreas Fischbacher, Germany’s sole representative.
“This is my first time in Vietnam, but I really love this country ... I’m very impressed by the traditional flute kites from Vietnam and [Vietnamese people’s] skillful techniques. I hope to come back to attend the Hanoi kite festival next year.”
Hussin Haron, Deputy President of the Malaysia Kite Council, said Vung Tau is an ideal place for a kite festival.
“Vietnam has a lot of potential in developing kite festivals in the future,” says Hussin Haron.
The Malaysian delegation’s large tiger-shaped kite was one of the event’s most impressive pieces.
The Vung Tau festival’s organizing board said it hopes to make the show an annual event.
The festival ends on Sunday.