De Vliegerende Hollander assembled a guide on what (not) to do for people who plan to go to one of the many festivals in Southeast Asia. Although it is mainly based on Indonesian festivals, most of it is valid for all Southeast Asian countries. If you feel anything is missing from this guide, please contact De Vliegerende Hollander to add your remarks to this page!!!

Kites
The most obvious thing to bring to a kite festival are... kites. But the trick is to pack the right kite for the local conditions, so make sure where you are going to end up! The festival committee can sometimes give you a good indication about the expected winds, but may easily overestimate the wind speeds (don't we all?). Believe me, westerners have gone before you to this festival, so try to find them and get some background info. There's also Wetsock (www.robomagic.com) that provides weather information from cities all over the world.

The Jakarta (Indonesia) and Bangkok (Thailand) festivals are held right in the hart of the city, with light winds from varying directions. The Taipei (Taiwan) and Bali and Pangandaran (Indonesia) festivals are right along the beach with strong monsoon winds. At the last festival in Lampung (Indonesia) we ended up at a recently cleared swampland just of the coastline, with fifteen to twenty meter high trees blocking the winds for easy launches.

Kite clothes
Many of the festivals will provide you with a T-shirt and/or cap with the logo of the festival. However, not being used to the tropical sun, most westerners should bring full protective clothing. From head down this should - at least - consist of the following items: wide brimmed hat; large bandana; good sunglasses; long-sleeved blouse; long trousers; and protective shoes, if possible with ankle support. Some optional stuff to bring are: ear protection; sun cream (factor >25); Camelback; Misty Mate; ORS or isotonic drinks; compass/GPS; and souvenirs.

First and second degree sun burns (mainly on nose and ears) or a sun stroke can hit you unexpectedly in the tropics, so don't let them get to you! The best remedy against all is a wide brimmed hat to protect your head and a bandana to cover your neck (the latter can also be soaked in water to provide extra cooling). As kites tend to fly to the sun in the tropics, sun block and sunglasses are necessary to protect face and eyes against the high amounts of UV light.

Sun block is also essential for your arms and legs, but long-sleeved shirts and trouser provide much better protection - and it's more appreciated by the locals! Last but not least it also protects against sharp shrubs and/or other unexpected sharp objects on the kite field, which is why I normally wear such gear together with strong boots. 

Another form of protective gear that's less obvious article yet of major importance is some form of hearing protection. On many festivals the sound system is mega-loud and directed straight into the kiting arena. In many cases it wasn't possible to have a normal conversation while flying a kite. Protective gear will save you from going deaf - and in some cases from going crazy! The latter case happened on a festival that played the only available kite song three days long over and over again; anybody having the guts to sing the song 'Layang layang' again in my presence is likely to get killed on the spot!

Additional gear
Kite anchors are often unreliable and/or unavailable and unguarded materials are considered public property by the local spectators. I therefore never leave my stuff unattended and spend many hours in the burning sun. A 'Camelback' (backpack water reservoir) or a 'Misty Mate' (high pressure water vaporizer) are very useful articles to have around. A safari jacket to stow some water is a good alternative. Furthermore a compass or GPS are useful to chase rogue kites through the winding alleys surrounding many kite festivals.

In addition you could take some vitamin C pills and/or a few sachets of Oral Rehydration Salts along. A tourist recently told me that vitamin C pills will help withstand the burning sun, but I expect the active components of it are the salts and sugars. A good alternative available in many Southeast Asian cities are the isotonic drinks.

Passports and visas are items often overlooked by a newbie attendant and there have been cases where people had to take the first available flight back because they forgot to check the passport and visa requirements. Therefore check with your local embassy what the passport and visa requirements are. Indonesia has a regulation that your passport should still be valid six months after you'll leave the country.

Find a cheap dictionary to make yourself understandable in the local language. No extensive language training is necessary to learn the basics like good morning and thank you. But people will respect you more for making an effort in speaking their language, even if you make mistakes! Also read up on local customs and habits. Make yourself stand out from the foreign morons often referred to as 'tourists' that visit these countries. Your local library will have some basics about most countries and otherwise you can try the internet.

Workshop material
The Asians are great fans of workshops, and very eager to learn about new materials and techniques. They are clever copiers; they can hardly cope with building plans or detailed written descriptions, but once they actually see the end product they're able to copy it to the last seam. It's thus useful to bring some workshop materials around and provide some practical ideas on kite-making. Whether it's a simple kids kite or a more complex rotor or windsock, there will surely be an eager audience for your work.

Audiovisual equipment
Having just stated that the most obvious thing to take to a festival is a kite, I'll prove to you there's an exception for every rule. The Bali Kite Festival is a festival you don't bring a kite, but loads of film! The festival is so condensed and spectacular it's a shame to be spoiled by the expectancy of flying one of your own kites! Not only is there little room to do so, it's not worth worrying about the safety of your kites and gear (security is rather slack there). But the local kite fliers provide such a show the best thing to do is simply walk around and fill any roll of film you can lay your hands on.

Formal clothes
On many festivals in Southeast Asia there will be several formal ceremonies involved. It is thus advisable to bring some appropriate clothing (you'll not be appreciated if you walk around in shorts and T-shirt). A simple version of your local costume is highly appreciated and will provide a handle for some lively conversations.

Patience and flexibility
As most people will know the Asian minds works in a different way. The same rule applies to kite festivals in this region, so don't be disappointed if at some point a festival will be rescheduled or changed. If you plan a trip solely to join one or a festival prepare a contingency plan AND get a cancellation insurance on your air ticket! Don't get upset or disappointed if you have to hang around for a few hours to wait for the late arrival of transport either... time is very flexible; in Indonesia this is referred to as 'rubber time'. Just stay cool, enjoy the experience and use your hands and feet to strike a conversation. (The same is valid for the schedule during a festival. Depending on many variables, certain events will be rescheduled.)

Souvenirs
A well kept secret is that many of the Southeast Asian kite festivals are for free. Most of the organizers are well aware that the air tickets are an outright attack on anybody's budget and try to obtain sponsorship for everybody who attends the festival. In many cases this means everything during the festival is for free... hotel, food and transport are all covered by the organizers. But show some gratitude by bringing small souvenirs from your country or some kite materials or publications. The organizers will appreciate this very much!