Unique kite-flying festival to be hosted by Manchester

The Fly With Me event on August 20, also featuring storytelling, music, poetry and dance, is dedicated to the people of Afghanistan.

The kite-flying festival will be happening in Platt Fields Park, Manchester, this weekend, as well as in other 16 cities across UK and Europe, including Brighton, Bradford, Dover, Folkestone, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Northamptonshire, Scunthorpe and Sheffield, as well as Berlin, Pas-de-Calais, Paris, Copenhagen and Barcelona.

Created by Good Chance Theatre, Fly With Me is a spectacular kite-flying festival centred around the life of Afghan people, while celebrating the old Afghan art of flying kites crafting. The entire show is organised as an act of solidarity with the people of Afghanistan.

Storytelling, music, poetry and dance, as well as kite making workshops, will be presented by both Afghan artists and craftsmen, as well as participants from other communities.

Afghan kite-maker and Fly With Me Co-Creator Sanjar Qiam, explained:

“Kite flying is one of the world’s earliest art forms – there are depictions of kites in cave paintings in Indonesia which are 40,000 years old. In Afghanistan, kites occupy a unique space between national art form and national sport. They are a universal symbol of expression, skill and cultural pride. Fly With Me is an act of solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and an opportunity for all of us to come together and feel between our fingers the strings that connect us to this incredible country, its culture and its people.”

The event in Manchester is organised by Manchester International Festival in collaboration with HOME and Community Arts North West, and will take place in Platt Fields Park, Fallowfield, across two locations - Platt Hall and Holy Trinity Platt Church. The festivities will be accompanied by Afghan poetry, traditional music and dancing. People from all over the city, regardless race, origins or religion, are invited to attend Fly With Me festival on Saturday, August 20, and help spreading the ‘Remember Afghanistan’ message to the entire world.

Source: secretmanchester.com