Navratri
The festival of Navratri (literally meaning nine nights) is one of the most widely celebrated Hindu festivals. It is celebrated to honour Goddess Durga who symbolizes power and purity. Navratri is famous for the ritual of fasting or avoiding food grains like rice, wheat and pulses for nine consecutive days. Along with Goddess Durga (and her other forms like Goddess Shakti), her daughters Goddess Lakshmi and Goddess Saraswati are also worshipped during Navratri.
Gujarati people celebrate Navratri by performing traditional dance form known as 'Garba'. Every night of Navratri, people gather in the park or garden to offer prayer to Goddess Durga. After this, people wear traditional clothings (Men wear 'Kediyu' and Women wear 'Chaniyacholi')
Uttrayan (Kite Festival)
The International Kite Festival (Uttarayan) is regarded as one of the biggest festivals celebrated in Gujarat. Months before the festival, homes in Gujarat begin to manufacture kites for the festival.
The festival of Uttarayan marks the day when winter begins to turn into summer, according to the Indian calendar. Many cities in Gujarat organize kite competition between their citizens where the people all compete with each other. In this region of Gujarat and many other states, Uttarayan is such a huge celebration that it has become a public holiday in India for two days. During the festival, local food such as Undhiyu (a mixed vegetable including yam and beans) and Jalebi is served to the crowds. Days before the festival, the market is filled with participants buying their supplies.
The International Kite Festival takes place in specially in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The festival is called Uttarayan. The festival is celebrated in many cities of Gujarat, Telangana and Rajasthan like Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Hyderabad, Nadiad, Dakor. However, the International Kite Event takes place in Ahmedabad (Kite capital of Gujarat) which accommodates visitors from many international destinations. The best place to enjoy this festival is the Sabarmati Riverfront (its sabarmati river bank with capacity of over 500,000 people) or the Ahmedabad Police Stadium, where people lay down to see the sky filled with thousands of kites.