World's largest dragon kite unveiled at the 38th Weifang International Kite Festival

With the debut of the world's largest 280-metre-long dragon kite at the Weifang Binhai International Kite Flying Field, the 38th Weifang International Kite Festival opened on 17th April in Weifang, in east China's Shandong Province.

Organised by the International Kite Federation and the Weifang Municipal People's Government, the Festival saw over 200,000 people attended to watch kite-flying performances from 500 professionals and 118 teams flying over 1,600 kites.

These included 1,628 kites representing 31 Chinese provinces, municipalities, autonomous regions, and the Macao Special Administrative Region in the competition and performance

While international participants weren’t able to attend this year's on-site event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organisers sent online invitations to 140 countries and regions, specially those from Belt and Road countries, and presented a video at the opening ceremony.

Speaking at the at the opening ceremony on 16th April, Tian Qingying, Secretary of the Weifang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, stated "Weifang Kite Festival presented Weifang to the outside world, which helps Weifang deeply integrate  into the world.”

4.2 meters in height, 3.6 meters in width, and 280 meters in length, the 76-piece dragon kite is the world's largest, according to Zhang Jianwei, Director of the Festival Service Centre, advising that that 26 artisans spent 48 days on making this world's largest dragon kite. The world's longest kite, measuring 7,700 meters in length, also debuted in the Festival and flew in the air for six hours.

As one of the highlights of this year's festival, a 1000-drone demonstration held on 18th April attracted more than 100,000 viewers.

This year's Festival also showcased kite culture in the form of song and dance for the first time, thanks to the cooperation between the festival organisers and the Jilin Provincial Song and Dance Troupe.

Another first saw the organisers invite 50 oil painters to design the kites with an exhibition combining oil painting with kites for the first time.

Linked cultural activities included the International Martial Arts Invitational Tournament, International Open Martial Arts Competition, and International DanceSport Competition.

Weifang, often described as the world's ‘kite capital’, has nearly 300 kite enterprises, including 39 export enterprises, with 80,000 people engaged in the industry.

Its kites are exported to over 50 countries and regions, accounting for 85% of the domestic and 75% of the international market shares.

Image credit: International Kite Federation/Weifang Municipal People's Government.