Coloriamo i Cieli, kites and balloons, Castiglione del Lago, lake Trasimeno, Umbria

“In the kite I have always seen freedom and joy, a message of peace carried on by a wind knowing no bounds”.
This sentence by Jane Parker is the “manifesto” of the Coloriamo i cieli founders. It still represents the meaning of this edition of the festival, fusing the themes of peace and protection of the environment.

History

This festival was born in 1982 in Castiglione del Lago, a small town situated on the west shore of the Lake Trasimeno. Here Oliviero Olivieri (the President of the Italian Kite Association - AIA), and the representatives of the Commune of Castiglione del Lago and the Tourism Promotion Agency put forward the idea of organizing this festival. Differently from the rest of Europe, where flying kites was just beginning, the Italian Kite Association was already famous at that time. Today Coloriamo i cieli is the one and only festival all over Italy that celebrates the birth of this sport.

In 1984 Coloriamo i cieli began a far-reaching event. Then a number of prominent people coming from all over the word have taken part of this event: Peter Waldrom (England), Peter Lynn (Australia), Tsumotso Hiroi and Hideo Matsutani (Japan), David Brittain (United States), Yves Laforest (Canada), Tom Pratt, Malcolm Goodman, Helmut Schiefer, Jacques Durieux, Raul Fossett, the Decorators and so on.

Places

Two distinct motions have always existed in the event, and they take part also in this 16th edition. On one hand there are the exhibitions in Palazzo della Corgna, on the other hand festival in the “Eleuteri” airport area.
The Palazzo della Corgna contains some frescoes belonging to the Mannerism. They are characterized by complexity, dramatic force and movement. This style is notable for elongated forms, exaggerated, out-of-balance poses, manipulated irrational space and unnatural lighting. The movement harmony seems to recall the light shapes and the bright colours of kites flying in the sky. In the Palazzo della Corgna room some kites made by well-known artists, as the “Aquiloni d’arte” by Peter Malinski, have been exhibited; other exhibitions have shown also some products of the western technology. Lastly some interesting photographic exhibitions concerning the ancient tradition of the Chinese and Japanese kite have been organized.
As far as the open-air festival, Coloriamo i cieli is held in the “Eleuteri” former airport area, more than 100 hectares of meadow included in the Lake Trasimeno Park, including the Trasimeno shores.
This scene is the same from the second world war.
More than 10,000 kite flyers take part in this exhibition and about 50,000 kite enthusiasts meet up during the four days when kites are flown.
This event, organized each year, draws hundreds of kite flyers, kite enthusiasts and spectators from all over the world. .

The Trasimeno kite flyers and the workshops

The Associazione Aquilonisti del Trasimeno (Trasimeno Kite Association) was born in 1984; in the same year some special workshops aiming at constructing kite and teaching the kite techniques were organized for the first time. Then the Kite Association came into contact with the associations of young people of the Trasimeno area, so that the festival has taken on an educational element, cooperating with the schools and using the festival a meeting point for experts and learners. More than 20,000 kites have been made in these workshops by Umbrian and Tuscan children.

This festival is organized by:

• Commune of Castiglione del Lago
• Regional Administration of Umbria
• Provincial Administration of Perugia
• Consortium of Municipalities in the mountain area named "Trasimeno-Medio Tevere"
• Tourism Promotion Agency of Umbria
• Lake Trasimeno Park
• Trasimeno Local Tourism Authority

In cooperation with the following associations:

• Lega Ambiente
• Italia Nostra
• Associazione Aquilonisti del Trasimeno
• L.I.P.U.
• Laboratorio del Cittadino
• Federazione Italiana Aerostatica
• Consorzio Itaca
• Confcommercio Trasimeno