Brief Introduction to Theme Activities of 30th Weifang International Kite Festival

 Weifang International Kite Festival Office

The 30th Weifang International Kite Festival is to be held on April 20th. Following the Scientific Outlook on Development, the tenet of "taking the advantage of the kite festival to promote the development in culture, tourism, economy and trade" and the "Four Constructions of Weifang" (Innovative, Cultural, Ecological and Happy Weifang), this session of kite festival will highlight its internationality feature and Weifang uniqueness, and give prominence to tourism and investment promotion. Sixteen theme activities in four blocks covering kite, tourism, culture and business promotion will be held during the festival.

The 16 theme activities in four blocks are:

(I) Kite Block: The opening ceremony of the 30th Weifang International Kite Festival, the Kite-Flying Performance & 9th World Kite Championship, the National Stunt Kite-flying Invitational Tournament, the Weifang Kite-flying Competition, the 3rd China (Weifang) Luminous Kite-flying Invitational Tournament, the Awarding Ceremony for 9th World Kite Championship, the 6th China (Weifang) Kite Product Expo & 1st Weifang Arts and Crafts Festival, the Weifang Kite Promotion Tour, Friendship Messenger activity and the launching ceremony of the Mass Kite-flying Activity in Urban Areas of Weifang.

(II) Tourism Block: The 8th Weifang Tourism Festival Activity (i.e. inviting 100 travel journalists, plus 1,000 travel agencies from home and abroad, and 10,000 tourists to travel in Weifang).

(III) Culture Block: The 3rd China Painting Festival-The 6th China (Weifang) Culture and Art Fair.

(IV) Business Promotion Block: The China International Sister City Mayors (Weifang) Ecological Summit & Launching Ceremony of "International Kite Cities Federation", Multinational Corporations–Weifang Cooperation and Project-joint Conference, the 30th Weifang International Kite Festival Blue & Yellow "Two Zones" Key Construction Projects Promotion Conference , the Binhai Economic-Technological Development Area Investment Promotion Conference, China Software Engineering Development Tendency Summit Forum, and the Signing Ceremony of Major Projects at the 30th Weifang International Kite Festival.

This session of kite festival will represent the 5 features:

First, highlighting themes and being economical. This session will follow the festival tenet to give prominence to promotion of city brand, tourism and business invitation. In accordance with the principle of being economical, the number of theme activities in this session will be 6 less than that of last year and the opening ceremony, which was used to be held at night in former years, will have its form innovated and be held in daytime along with the kite-flying activity.

Second, innovating activities to publicize Weifang. Such activities include the "Weifang Kite, Friendship Messenger" activity, which aims to promote Weifang and conduct cultural exchange with major domestic cities, Hong Kong, Taiwan and surrounding countries like South Korea, in the form of Caravan parade and with the themes of kite, local arts and culture, and scenic spots and historical sites; the Kite Products Expo, which will contain new contents such as the assessment and awarding of the international master kite craftsman and the kite auction activity; the 1st Weifang Arts and Crafts Festival, which will showcase and publicize the local arts and crafts of Weifang; the Weifang Tourism Festival, which aims to invite 100 travel journalists, plus 1,000 travel agencies from home and abroad, and 10,000 tourists to travel in Weifang; and the business invitation activities, which give prominence to international cooperation and the construction of "Blue & Yellow Zones" .

Third, promoting integration of resources. Along with the kite festival, a series of festivals will also be held in different counties, county-level cities, and districts of Weifang, including the 3rd Representative Conference of International Kite Federation, "Fruitful Achievements" Photography Exhibition – 30th Anniversary of Weifang International Kite Festival, the 14th China (Shouguang) International Vegetable Sci-tech Expo, the 12th China (Changle) International Gem Festival, the 1st China (Weifang-Kuiwen) International Auto Culture Festival, and Cross-straits Kite Culture Exchange Activities.

Fourth, being human-oriented and encouraging mass participation. A number of mass activities concerning kite, culture and tourism will be held, in order to attract more people to participate in the festival. The opening ceremony of the kite festival will be broadcast live.

Fifth, conducting large activities to push forward the development of the Binhai Area. During the kite festival, one day will be spared specially for the Binhai Area. On the day, the Chinese and Foreign Kites-flying Performance and the Awarding Ceremony for 9th World Kite Tournament (the closing ceremony) will be broadcast live on the international channel of CCTV.

Attachment: Schedule of 16 theme activities of the 30th Weifang International Kite Festival

 Schedule of 16 theme activities of 4 sections of the 30th Weifang International Kite Festival

In addition to the sixteen theme activities, some other activities will also be held by municipal department, counties, county-level cities and districts of Weifang., such as the 3rd Representative Conference of International Kite Federation, "Fruitful Achievements" Photography Exhibition – 30th Anniversary of Weifang International Kite Festival, the 1st China (Kuiwen, Weifang) International Auto Culture Festival, the 14th China (Shouguang) International Vegetable Sci-tech Expo, the 12th China (Changle) International Gem Festival, Cross-straits kite culture exchange activities, the 8th Weifang Urban Pupil Kite Festival, the Weifang Tea Culture Fair and the kite festival Beijing press conference.