Chinese Kite Festival Dazzles in Moscow

The Chinese Kite Festival, held at VDNH from 10 to 13 June as part of the Let’s Travel! International Tourism Forum, proved a resounding success. The event was organized by the Chinese Cultural Centre in Moscow and the Department of Culture and Tourism of Shandong Province, with the support of the Weifang City Department of Culture and Tourism. The festival was a key humanitarian exchange event, offering the city’s residents and Forum guests a rich programme full of creativity and Oriental aesthetics. The Let’s Travel! International Tourism Forum is organized by the Roscongress Foundation and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, with the support of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The festival’s opening ceremony took place on 11 June and was attended by Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism of China Lu Yingchuan; Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Dmitry Vakhrukov; Minister-Counselor at the ⁠Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Russian Federation Zhang Wei; Minister-Counselor for Culture and Director of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Moscow Feng Litao; and Deputy Director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism Jiang Qingpeng, along with other distinguished guests. In a warm and celebratory atmosphere, the Chinese side presented their Russian colleagues with a Chinese-Russian Kite of Friendship – a symbol of the strong ties and mutually beneficial cooperation between the peoples of the two countries. The ceremony continued with a concert programme that opened with the “Procession of the King of Elephants”, a moving melody that conveys the grandeur of the ancient Eastern civilization. Next, the Chinese Cultural Centre’s Tai Chi Chuan students performed the Li ethnic dance “Li Girls” and “The Return of the Horse in Spring Under the Full Moon”. The “Charm of Wushu” martial art and the “Moon Over Luzhou” song and dance number were also featured.

Masters from Weifang – the acknowledged capital of kite flying – performed demonstration flights, including a 48-metre-long kite with a dragon’s head and a centipede-like body, frameless soft kites, butterflies, cranes, and goldfish, all symbolizing happiness and good fortune. Five launches were held each day of the Forum, and guests were given the opportunity, under the supervision of Chinese kite masters, to hold the line themselves and experience the freedom of kite flying.

In the Retreat Area, guests painted their own kites, circular silk fans, and clay tigers. They also had the chance to master traditional woodblock printing at the tables with New Year prints.

The business programme area of the Let’s Travel! Forum hosted the Traditional Chinese Culture and Intangible Heritage Exhibition, where dozens of traditional arts were on display, including Yangjiabu New Year woodblock pictures, Gaomi papercuts, Niejiazhuang clay figurines, Weifang embroidery, pyrography, eggshell carving, and, of course, the world-famous kites.

The participation of Weifang masters in the Let’s Travel! Forum’s opening parade proved to be an eye-catching prologue to the festival and one of the Forum’s highlights. Colourful kites in hand, they marched in the procession, representing their country.

The Chinese Kite Festival combined millennia-old traditions and wild creativity, filling the Moscow sky with fairytale kites that seemed to come to life, and bringing truly vibrant colours to international humanitarian exchange.