Largest kite festival

Established in 1984, the Weifang International Kite Festival, held annually in Shandong Province, China, is widely considered the largest of its kind, welcoming delegations from all around the globe and hundreds of thousands of spectators each year. At the 2023 event (the 40th edition), which got underway with the traditional opening ceremony on 15 April, some 622 kite professionals from 59 countries and regions would take part in the competition or performance displays over several weeks. The festival is known for its creative show kites, with the 2023 event including spectacular examples based on giant sea creatures, a high-speed train with 50 carriages, vegetables, mythical beasts such as dragons and phoenixes, the Tiangong space station and China’s first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang.

Often referred to as the “kite capital of the world”, the city of Weifang has a long and illustrious connection with kites, which are traditionally thought to have originated here in the 5th century BCE. Philosopher Mozi (c. 470–c. 391 BCE) is credited to have been the first to create “flying birds” out of wood; these were then refined by one of his protégés, craftsman and engineer Lu Ban (c. 507–444 BCE), who used more lightweight bamboo to create a “flying magpie” that could stay aloft for several days.

In 2021, UNESCO named Weifang as a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art, with kitemaking prominent among several local handicrafts listed as an intangible cultural heritage, alongside paper-cutting, peach-pit carving and woodblock-printing.

The city is also home to the world’s largest kite museum, the Weifang World Kite Museum, with some 1,300 exhibits (including about 1,000 kites) displayed across 12 halls with a total floor area of 8,100 m2 (87,190 sq ft).