Bali is renowned for many things, from its world-famous delicacies, surf and Sanur is well known where the sky is covered of beautiful and colorful kites. The annual kite festival is always an attraction for kite lovers, both locals, nationals or internationals, and takes place between July and August near Mertasari Beach in Sanur.
This is a religious event, not only a kite flying festival, that sends a message for the gods to bring abundance in crops and harvest. The aim of this event is to promote traditional Balinese kites and preserve local culture.
Traditional giant kites are in various shapes and sizes, all the kites are built by the flyers themselves, and sometimes with help of their local communities, and they’re crafted by traditional Balinese kite patterns. Most of them are giant, and sizes are increased year after year, measuring up to four meters in width and 10 meters in length.
The most common design is the ‘bebean’ type, with a traditional outline of a fish, and is called the ‘giant kite’ of Bali that dominates the sky. Janggan kite has a really long tail, the longest record was about 200 meters! It’s hard to believe, but Balinese kites are bigger than another kite in the world. Flying abilities of all kites are assessed by judges and winners can have some money and trophies. If you want to win, there are some categories such as ‘best launch’, ‘best design’ and also the ‘longest flight’.
But the most important in this competition is that flyers have fun, they make the most impressive kites and also represent their ‘banjar’ (district).
If you want to spend good times with your family during your stay in the island of Gods, and if you’re lucky to be in Bali in July or August, don’t miss the 38th annual kites festival in Sanur this year
