Much of Balinese life seems to happen in a sort of meaningless, random, slow motion. So it was a surprise to see that the tribal passions of the locals can be aroused. Not cricket or footy, and only the expats play golf, no, the real game is kite building and flying.

teamwork

Most days, a few kites of moderate size can be seen flying at the beaches. But at this two-day festival there were hundreds of kites of all sizes and thousands of team members and spectators. There were about 5 white people to be seen, me & 4 others. The vibe was happy, enthusiastic and competitive in a gentle sort of way. Size of kites ranged from the very serious, with tails maybe 50 metres long manned by a team of about fifteen, all the way down to toddlers making little kites with bits of plastic bag and string.

There were humorous kites like the bumble-bee and the papier mache drummer suspended under a kite. The serious competition happened within different classes of kites with points being given for handling and manoeuvring as well as construction and workmanship.

the Drummer

Oc. health and safety are not issues. Some of the kites over fly high voltage power lines, occasionally brushing the wires. On a few of the wires can be seen burnt bits of dead kite.

A tribe – ready for action

Team work is the thing, and image. The serious teams have uniforms and someone to carry the banner or flag as they move in procession. Red, black, gold and gothic seem to be popular.

Hi Ho it’s off to work we go

In general, the kites have only one control line, often quite heavy cord, so they can’t be steered, as such. But if they can achieve a figure of eight movement, that seems to get a wild reaction from the crowd, as it involves risk of crashing with other kites or the ground. Life down on the ground is mostly fairly ordinary, but spirits were riding high in the wind.