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Long may it fly at the Basant Spring Kite Festival

By Stephen Magagnini

smagagnini@sacbee.com

Maryam Bath, 6, of Yuba City, tries to get her flag in the air during the kite festival on Sun., April 19, 2015 at North Natomas Regional Park in Natomas, Calif. Lack of wind and the heat kept many kite flyers from the festival but they still enjoyed good food and other fun activities. Pakistani community leader Ras H. Siddiqui said the Basant Spring Kite Festival is actually a very serious pastime for many Pakistani and Afghani refugees. “We grew up flying kites, and it is a rite of spring - this festival is jointly celebrated by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.” Siddiqui added that it’s a competitive event, and kite strings are covered with powdered glass to try and bring down the other guy’s kite line when the lines cross. The festival was sponsored by the Pakistani American Association of Sacramento.
Maryam Bath, 6, of Yuba City, tries to get her flag in the air during the kite festival on Sun., April 19, 2015 at North Natomas Regional Park in Natomas, Calif. Lack of wind and the heat kept many kite flyers from the festival but they still enjoyed good food and other fun activities. Pakistani community leader Ras H. Siddiqui said the Basant Spring Kite Festival is actually a very serious pastime for many Pakistani and Afghani refugees. “We grew up flying kites, and it is a rite of spring - this festival is jointly celebrated by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.” Siddiqui added that it’s a competitive event, and kite strings are covered with powdered glass to try and bring down the other guy’s kite line when the lines cross. The festival was sponsored by the Pakistani American Association of Sacramento. Renée C. Byer rbyer@sacbee.com

Maryam Bath, 6, of Yuba City tries to get her star-spangled kite in the air during Sunday’s kite festival at North Natomas Regional Park in Sacramento. Lack of wind and the heat kept many from putting their kites up, but they still enjoyed food and activities. Pakistani community leader Ras H. Siddiqui said the Basant Spring Kite Festival is a serious pastime for many Pakistani and Afghan immigrants. “We grew up flying kites, and it is a rite of spring – this festival is jointly celebrated by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.” Siddiqui added that it’s a competitive event and that strings are covered with powdered glass to try to bring down other people’s kites when the lines cross. The Pakistani American Association of Sacramento sponsored the festival.

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