International Kite Festival will starts from today in Hyderabad

The stage is set for the fourth edition of the International Kite Festival on Sunday. Around 42 international professional kite flyers from 20 countries and around 1,200 varieties of home-made sweets, all representing different cultures, will be on display.

Vice-president M. Venkaiah Naidu will attend the event as chief guest while state home minister Mahmood Ali will preside over the event. Separate spots have been arranged for professional kite-flyers and residents to exhibit their skills.

The sweet festival is going to be as big a draw as 2,500 homemakers from 22 different countries toil to showcase the 1,200 varieties of sweets. The festival will kick off around 11 am and go on till 10 pm, ending in cultural programmes in which artists from around 25 states will perform on stage.

Tourism officials are confident the festival will see a footfall of around 10 lakh in the coming three days. Eight lakh people had visited it last year. Tourism secretary Burra Venkatesham, who was overlooking arrangements at the Parade grounds, said: “This festival celebrates the cosmopolitan nature of Hyderabad while boosting tourism in the city.”