What preparations for the festival does the writer mention? 3 What is the aim of the kite battles? What do the kite teams wear? 5 What other things do people do while the kites are flying? What did the writer do on the last evening? i How did the writer feel at the end of the festival? The Kite Battles I'l never forget my visit to the Japanese city of Hamamatsu. I decided to go at the beginning of May, when the local people have their kite festival. Every year, between 3rd and 5th May, the local people fly colourful kites to bring their children good health, strength and courage. On the way there I read a little about the history of the Hamamatsu Kite Festival. Apparently, it all started about 430 years ago, when the lord of the region sent a huge kite into the sky with his child's name on it. When I arrived there, a few days before the beginning of the festival, I was amazed at the preparations involved. Some people were making enormous kites, while others were busy decorating brightly-coloured floats. Everywhere I went I could smell cakes and sweets cooking, ready for the big festival. I couldn't wait to try them! On the first day of the festival, the sky was filled with huge, colourful kites. I was so excited that I couldn't take my eyes off the sky. "The aim of the battle," explained an old man, "is not to win a prize, but for the teams to show off their skills by knocking the other teams' kites out of the sky." He also told me that each team was flying a kite for a family who had recently had their first child. I noticed that every team had different costumes, which were embroidered with elaborate designs to match the ones on their kites. They wore scarves around their heads and they had to wear gloves to protect their hands from the kite strings. The kite teams were mostly men, but hundreds of women and children had come to watch the event. The atmosphere was fantastic, and all around me people kept waving flags, banging drums, playing trumpets and blowing whistles. At the same time, the teams were furiously tugging their opponents' kites to the ground. I couldn't help admiring them for putting on such a stunning show. On the last evening of the festival, I really enjoyed walking around the city centre and watching the floats. People had put an incredible amount of work into making them and they were really beautiful. It made me feel sad to think that I would leave for Tokyo the next day, but I knew that the memories of the kite festival would stay with me forever.