Page 11 - HOH
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                                                                                                           LOCAL Saturday 26 april 2025






























            Aruba’s kite flying tradition for King’s Day


                                                                      and  whose  could  fly  flaw-
                                                                      lessly and longer in the air.
                                                                      For  this  year’s  celebration,
                                                                      Centro di Bario Playa Pabao   at 8AM.                     our King Willem-Alexander’s
                                                                      located in Madiki is organiz-                             birthday!
                                                                      ing another edition of their   Gather your family and be
                                                                      kite flying event with different   a part of this colorful Aruban  *Mondi: Aruban woods. q
                                                                      categories of height starting   tradition  in  celebration  of






            (Oranjestad)—Every year for  of fabric trailing behind the
            King’s Day, Arubans gather  back end of the kite. To fin-
            with friends and family to fly  ish off the process, people
            kites. Big or small, paper or  used  fish  lines  or  thin  rope
            plastic, blue skies fill up with  to  tie  three  corners  of  the
            these colorful flying contrap-  kite together. Another long
            tions, brightening our yearly  string of rope is tied in the
            celebration  of  the  Dutch  knotted center and bundled
            Monarch.                     up, used to steer the kite as
                                         it flies in the air. Decorating
            The  tradition  of  flying  kites  the kite was especially im-
            starts at home in the weeks  portant, and children would
            leading  up  to  King’s  Day.  use paint to create their own
            These kites were traditionally  designs—the more colorful,
            made with things found in  the better!
            the  nearby  mondi*  and  in
            the kitchen at home. Using  People usually fly their kites
            dried up cactus sticks for the  in big open fields, like empty
            frame, old news papers, and  soccer and baseball fields
            glue made from flour, water  found all around the island
            and salt to dry faster (some  around noon, when the sun
            people even use cornstarch  is at its brightest.
            slurry  as  glue),  kids  usually
            make  their  own  kites  with  In  the  past  few  years,  kite
            their friends, parents or other  flying has become a sport
            close family members. Tails  in which groups of people
            are  made  from  old  bed  would battle against each
            sheets, ripped and tied to-  other  to  see  whose  kite  is
            gether to create a long string  the  biggest,  the  prettiest,
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