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The custom of flying kites every spring in Weifang has a rather long history. In 1984, the municipal government of Weifang city carried forward this brilliant, folk cultural tradition and advocated holding an International Kite Festival, which attracted more than 100 members of 17 kites`groups or teams from 11 countries and regions including the U.S., England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Singapore, Japan, Former East Germany and Hong Kong. The first International Kite Festival was held on April 1, 1984 with more than 12, 000 kite-flying fans attended its opening ceremony, at which Zou Ligui, President of Weifang Kite Association, and David M. Checkley, President of the Seattle Kite Association, U.S., gave speeches respectively. In the afternoon, all the kites`groups and teams at the festival performed kite flying stunts which were viewed by more than 100,000 spectators. Afterwards nearly one hundred foreign and forty-five national news agencies reported the Festival which greatly enhanced the popularity of Weifang city. Since that time, the International Kite Festival has been held at the beginning of each April in Weifang city, with increasingly larger scale, higher standard and more variety of activities. Due to this kite festival, Weifang city has been rightfully acclaimed as ``the Kite Capital of the World``.
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