NAGAPATTINAM: The skies over Nagapattinam will become a canvas of colour, creativity and culture as the Nagapattinam district administration, in association with Global Media Box, hosts the district’s first Nagai Kite Festival 2026 at Kameshwaram Beach from September 25 to 27. The festival is part of efforts to promote coastal ecotourism and position Nagapattinam as a coastal ecotourism hub.
The three-day festival will be held from 2 pm to 7 pm each day, and is expected to attract visitors and provide a family-oriented recreational activity along the coast.
The event, spearheaded by Collector K J Praveen Kumar, will see over 12 professional kite flyers from the Tamil Nadu Team Skyters painting the sky with nearly 60 kites from across countries.
The kites will feature marine-themed creatures, animals, cartoons and various other designs. The festival will incorporate Tamil cultural elements, with the Skyters team showcasing traditional and cultural kites, including the iconic Poikkal Kuthirai (folk horse) and the Thanjavur dancing doll.
Other Tamil cultural elements, including kaalai madu (Bull), will also feature among the kites. “The festival is part of our effort to showcase Nagapattinam’s coastline as a destination for responsible and sustainable tourism.
With the district already attracting visitors from across the world to Velankanni, we see significant potential to promote our coastline and create greater awareness and interest in coastal ecotourism,” said Hemanth Odukkathil, project lead of the convergence team from the district administration.
Entry to the festival will be free, with the administration intending to make the event accessible to a wider section of the public and encourage domestic tourism. The festival also aims to promote the Kameshwaram Beach, developed under the Blue Flag Beach Programme in Keelaiyur, which is yet to receive the Blue Flag certificate.
“Obtaining Blue Flag certification could strengthen Kameshwaram’s position as a sustainable tourism destination. The Blue Flag is an internationally recognised eco-label that attracts domestic and international visitors while giving the beach stronger destination branding based on environmental quality, safety and visitor facilities,” said K Shanu, CM’s Green Fellow with the Environment and Climate Change Department.
It covers a 300-metre stretch, of which 100 metres has been developed for amenities, while the remaining 200 metres has been retained for dune conservation.
The project was taken up at Rs 3.56 crore and the developed beach was inaugurated on March 6. The beach has toilets, showers, changing rooms, drinking water, walkways, watchtowers, first-aid and rescue equipment, children’s play areas, fitness facilities and public seating.
A Blue Flag Beach Management Committee, chaired by the Collector and representatives from various departments and agencies, has also been constituted to oversee the beach’s management. Around 50 sanitation workers will clean the beach every two hours during the festival, with cleaning operations planned to maintain hygiene.
Shanu said the overall objective is to maintain Kameshwaram as a clean, safe, environmentally responsible and well-managed beach, while ensuring continued readiness for Blue Flag certification.
