A group of cultural enthusiasts from South Korea are joining the 9th Burangoy Tourism Kite Festival of Negros Occidental province’s Sipalay City, known as the “Kite Tourism Capital of the Philippines”, which climaxes this weekend.

On Friday, the festival’s open art installation was unveiled while the kite flying exhibitions also started ahead of the kite flying competition at the Poblacion Beach on Saturday.

Supervising Tourism Officer Jerick Lacson said the visitors from South Korea are the first-ever international kite flyers to participate in the city’s kite events.

“Kite flyers and festival organizers from South Korea are joining us this year. This is part of the plans of the city government under Mayor Maria Gina Lizares to level up the festival as an international event,” he added.

The delegation includes Jaiduck Ryu and Kwangwoo Song, president and director of planning of the Korea Kite Federation, respectively; Ki-Beom Jung, chairman of Chungnam Cultural Heritage Content Cooperative; Junghwan Kim and Wonki Hwang, chairman and vice chairman, and Wonki Hwang, director of the Korea-Philippines Festival and Cultural Exchange Association.

On Saturday, the event will start with a kite parade from the Sipalay City Park to the “Wow Sipalay” signage to be followed by a kite flying competition at Poblacion Beach.

Categories include Flat Kites, with a local design called “guryon”, and Barungoy or Flying Fish Kites, showcasing 2D or 3D flying fish-themed kites, which are open only to Sipalay-based individual participants, while Figure Kites, featuring Philippine animal figures, and 3D Geometric Kites are both open to all with no age limit.

Special awards will be given for the Biggest Kite, Longest Kite, and Most Unique Kite.

The festival, which runs until March 26, is derived from the words “burador” or kite, and “barungoy” a local term for flying fish. (PNA)