(19 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fanø, Denmark – 17 June 2025
1. Various of kites flying over Fanø beach
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Paul Therkelsen, Kite festival organizer:
++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT3++
“We’re really happy to be able to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Fanø International Kite Fliers meeting. Because It vent from a very small — nothing like a festival, but just a couple of tourists flying kites. And then to now, where after forty years we are the biggest kite-flyers meeting in the world, with maybe up to 5 to 6,000 kite flyers coming here to fly there kites, every year.”
3. Indonesian kite being launched
4. Indonesian man holding kite line
5. Indonesian kites flying
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Kadek Armika, Indonesian kite builder and artist: ++SOUNDBITE IS OVERLAID BY SHOT4-5++
“The spiritual kite and philosophy of the kite tradition in Indonesia is very high spiritual. The one single line is between a people to the god, this flying with the vertical connecting. That is the story of spiritual kites in Indonesia.”
7. Mid of kite being carried
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rüdiger Ueberschaer, Kiter from Germany:++SOUNDBITE STARTS ON PREVIOUS SHOT AND IS OVERLAID BY SHOT9++
“It’s fantastic. It’s really great to do it and to see the long tail here. I’m so happy to be a part of it.”
9. Indonesian kite being launched
10. Various of kites flying over Fanø beach
STORYLINE:
Kite enthusiasts are descending upon the Danish island of Fanø, transforming the sky into a breathtaking display of soaring color.
Located on Denmark’s rugged west coast, where the North Sea meets the Atlantic, Fanø is famed for its wide, flat beaches and steady coastal winds — a natural stage for what has become the world’s largest kite-flying event.
Visitors are even allowed to drive directly onto the island’s 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) stretch of hard-packed sand.
“It started as something very small, not even official — just a few tourists flying kites. And now, forty years later, we are the largest kite-flyers’ gathering in the world,” said festival organizer Paul Therkelsen.
This year’s meeting carries special significance: 2025 marks the 40th anniversary of the festival.
To celebrate, organizers launched the initiative “Indonesia to Fanø”, inviting some of the most renowned Indonesian kite builders and flyers to participate in this year’s program and share their centuries-old traditions with the global kite community.
A 100-meter-long (328 feet) Indonesian kite was paraded through the cobbled streets of Nordby — a historic seafaring village dating back to the Viking Age.
With roots stretching to around the year 700 and a church from 1789, Nordby was once Denmark’s gateway to exotic trade.
During the festival, locals proudly showcase their traditional costumes and finely crafted fabrics, offering a glimpse into Fanø’s rich cultural heritage.
“It’s fantastic. It’s really great to do it and to see the long tail here,” said Rüdiger Ueberschaer, a kiter visiting from Germany.
According to Therkelsen, the Indonesian tradition of kite making dates back nearly 4,000 years, evidenced by a cave painting discovered on the Muna Islands.
Early kites were fashioned from leaves — a testament to the ingenuity of what may be the world’s oldest kite builders.
In Indonesia, kites hold deep cultural and spiritual meaning. In Bali, for instance, kite flying is a sacred ritual, part of religious ceremonies and seasonal festivals.
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