Songs of the skies

In Bali, when the trade winds kick in, the weather changes. Each May, the wet season slows to a stop as strong, dry, clean winds blow in from the south. The skies clear, the rain disappears and the paddy fields turn parched and barren.

Look up, though, and the sky is teeming with life. Birds flit and swoop like dogfighting pilots beneath white fluffy clouds as tall clumps of bamboo whisper in the breeze. Despite this feeling of well-being, however, rice farmers know they have a lot of work to do. If they don't irrigate the land enough, their crops will suffer. And in Bali, farmers don't just irrigate: they invoke the spirits of the skies to help out.

"I started making and flying kites before I was 10," says Si Nyoman Adnyana, a respected village elder and local historian. "I'm 77 now, so that's a lot of kites," he laughs.

Si Nyoman is one of the founders of the annual Bali Kite Festival and competition, held at Pantai Padang Galak, Sanur, on the south side of the island, usually at the end of July. The event is, he says, much more than just a festival: it's a homage to the wind, the seasons, the Earth and the balance of nature that ensures a good harvest.

"It's not just about kite flying, although that is good in itself, it's about what the kites mean to us," he explains. "Kites in Bali are a very important part of the culture."

Most Balinese kites are black, red and white - either in stripes, patterns or checks. These colours represent Hindu deities and legend has it that the god Shiva loved flying kites.

Built to traditional designs, the kites are rigged with bamboo bows and strung with rattan strips that make a hypnotic humming, warbling noise as they fly. As the kites soar over the parched paddy fields, the faithful believe the "song" made by the two attached strips will bring harmony to the ground and make it fertile.