3 March 2019 – Doha, Qatar:
Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) is gearing up to host the third edition of the popular ‘Aspire International Kite Festival’ at Aspire Park from March 6 – 9.
The mind-blowing festival turns the blue skies of Aspire Park into a 3-D artistic platform and will feature more than 80 international kiters this year. With their fabulous creative designs, these competitive kiters will be competing in four award categories: The Best Design and Innovation Award, The Biggest Kite Award, the Longest Kite Award, and the Best National Flag Award. Teams from China, France, Pakistan, and Mexico won each of these award categories last year and 2019’s edition is expected to attract even more international competitors.
The 2019 edition of the Kite Festival will also feature more than 13 government and private schools competing in their annual schools competition, with hundreds of children also taking part in the festival’s lively activities, workshops and site visits.
Commenting on the success of previous editions of the Kite Festival, Mrs. Kholoud Al Hail, Chairperson of the Event’s Organising Committee, said: “Aspire International Kite Festival has turned into one of the mega sportainment events hosted annually by Qatar in very little time. It’s a wonderful activity that introduces the local community to a new sport while also unleashing people’s kiting skills and artistic creativity.
“The past two editions have been a sweeping success locally and internationally, as demonstrated by the return of numerous international teams and the increasing number of schools participating,” Al Hail added.
Al-Hail also revealedthat the first and second editions have garnered the respect and interest of local and international participants and said: “We were therefore keen to develop the third edition further and build on the momentum of past editions. To do this, we will extend this year’s evening sessions with impressive lit kite shows, a unique addition to the 2019 event”.
Last year, Oscar Academy, Muaz Bin Jabal Independent School for Boys and Halima Al-Saadeia Independent School for Girls were the winners of the kite flying competitions. Alongside the event, Aspire Park visitors flew an average of 1,000 kites a day, while kite sale points sold more than 10,000 kites in four days.
“In 2018, more than 550 boys and girls from Qatar-based schools took part in the kite flying workshops and site visits while 70 students took part in the kite flying competitions. This year we expect a significant increase in the number of participating school students following the positive feedback we received after the last two editions,” Al Hail concluded.
The 2018 festival also highlighted AZF’s support for small businesses, with a number of local companies promoting their products and services to festival-goers. These included several Qatari small businesses serving a range of food and drink options, with Food & Beverage (F&B) sales at the festival amounting to more than 1,000,000 QAR.
As with last year’s competition, AZF will also organise a poster competition and a social media photography competition this year, to encourage youngsters to express their creative side during the festival. Further details for both of these competitions will be announced on AZF’s social media channels soon.