(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Amna Pervaiz Rao | The Peninsula
DOHA: Aspire Second International Kite Festival kicked off yesterday, bringing in leading international kite flyers from 23 countries. Large crowds gathered to participate in the first day of the four day event at Aspire Park.
Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) conducted workshops for seven schools which included, Khadija school, Aspire Academy, Cambridge School, Pak Shama School and College, Muath Ibn Jabal School, Gheras International School and Lebanese School of Qatar.
The workshops were delivered by Wing Lee, President of Singapore Kite Association and Gadis Widiyati Riyadi, the Secretary of the International ASEAN Kite Council, a renowned Singaporean trainer.
Talking to The Peninsula, Wing Lee said: ' I am conducting workshops for school children. We give them a presentation to make it easy for them to understand how a kite flies, what are the different types of kites and we teach them how to make a kite. We are also providing all the material which can be used while making a kite.
Comparing the previous edition from the second edition, he said: ' Last year we faced problems due to weather conditions while this year, AZF has worked really hard on every aspect of Kite Festival. The venue is amazing with perfect weather to fly kites. This time we have observed increase in the participants and schools participating as well.
This year's event is witnessing a growing number of participating countries, with more than 102 participants from 23 countries to take part in the festival. Last year, 40 participants from 13 countries took part. Countries participating this edition include: Austria, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Spain, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Mohammed bin Fahad Al Thani, Member of Second International Kite Festival organising committee told the Newspaper: 'This time we have 23 countries coming from five continents of the world. We have Qatar's team participating this year, workshops were conducted by AZF to prepare them for the competitions. The morning sessions are running from 9am until 12pm. It will comprise various workshops for students who are taking part in a local kite flying competition on the sidelines of the main international event on a smaller scale for local schools' teams.
The afternoon sessions will run from 3pm until 11pm, and comprise various entertainment activities and more than 28 food and beverage outlets set up alongside the main International Kite Flying competition.
'The atmosphere is catchy and exciting for children and for the organizers as well. Looking at children's interest in making kites and flying themselves is priceless. We had more than 200 students today who attended the workshop and flew kites in sky. We have special teachers for them from Singapore, we hope children and families enjoy the second edition of International Kite festival, said Sumaya Al-Qasabi, Member of Second International Kite Festival organizing committee, talking about the atmosphere created by AZF during the festival.
The festival organiser have designed a dedicated schools programme to introduce children to the sport of kite flying through a friendly inter-school competition, with teams representing 14 local schools vying for a range of cash prizes including QR50,000 for first place, QR30,000 for second place and QR20,000 for third place.
Along with the International Kite Festival, AZF, in collaboration with the Qatar Photographic Society, has launched a photography competition for amateur and professional photographers in Qatar. Entrants can compete by posting their photos on social media under the hashtag #AspireKiteFest for a chance to win valuable prizes and get the honour of being crowned the 2018 Aspire International Kite Festival Photography Competition winner.
First place winner of the 2018 Aspire International Kite Festival Photography Competition will receive QR20,000 cash prize. Second place winner will get a business class plane ticket to a destination of their choice. Third place winner will receive two economy class plane tickets, whilst fourth and fifth place winners will each receive a professional camera.
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