Cambodian Kite Festival

Cambodia's kite flying tradition dates back to a 972 AD stone inscription and, by oral tradition, further still, built around the Kleng Ek, a bamboo-framed kite with a bow that hums as it climbs. Nearly destroyed under the Khmer Rouge, the tradition was revived through a 1994 festival and formalized as an annual national event by 1999. Modern editions now rotate through Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kep, Svay Rieng, and Kampong Chhnang each autumn, pairing kite competitions with folk music and craft demonstrations.

Cambodia's kite flying tradition traces back further than almost any other living festival practice in the country: kites appear in a stone inscription from 972 AD, and oral tradition pushes their origin back to around 400 BC, when both young and old built and flew kites once the harvest was in and favorable north winds arrived in the cooler months.