WEIFANG International Kite Festival is from one angle a renowned folkloric activity in China, and from another, a grand international event in kite folklore. Beginning in 1984, the event has been conducted annually every April in Weifang, Shandong Province on China's east coast. This year is the 28th session of this pageant.

More than any other place Weifang reminds us of kite folklore traditions. The city has a long history of kite making, and is widely admired for its sophisticated workmanship of all the processes involved: framing the bamboo skeleton, pasting it with paper to flesh out a beautiful form, and painting the plain kite in beautiful colors to give it an animated image when the thing flies. All these are done with a know-how to make the kite easy to fly. In the 1950s, Weifang kites were sold on overseas markets, celebrated for flying high in the skies of over 20 foreign countries and regions. On April 1, 1988 the Presidium of the Fifth Weifang International Kite Festival voted Weifang into the "Kite City of the World," and decided to collect the 10 champion kites selected from around the world and house them in the Weifang Kite Museum as permanent souvenirs.

During the annual international kite festival, Weifang hosts a variety of activities for participants to explore other aspects of local folklore and culture besides kite making and flying competitions and craftsmanship exchange. Weifang has healthy highway and railway arteries and airline connection, so while it attracts abundant kite producers and flying enthusiasts, the event also draws regular tourists to do other things besides indulge their curiosity in the myriad of little creatures flying in the colorful sky.