Basant Kite-Flying Festival

Basant — "The Festival of Kites" — in February marks the advent of spring in the Punjab. At this time the skies over Punjabi cities such as Lahore, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi teem with multicolored kites. The color yellow is has a special place in this festival. Everyone dresses in yellow and mostly yellow foods are cooked.

Basant — "The Festival of Kites" — in February marks the advent of spring in the Punjab. At this time the skies over Punjabi cities such as Lahore, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi teem with multicolored kites. The color yellow is has a special place in this festival. Everyone dresses in yellow and mostly yellow foods are cooked. Although it has traditionally been a secular event, Islamists have attempted to ban it by condemning it as a Hindu festival. [Source: Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, Thomson Gale, 2006]

With the advent of spring, the skies of Lahore are filled with all types and sizes of kites. The Lahorites participate in kite flying competitions to herald the spring. Basant is not only a kite flying event, but a cultural festival of traditional food, dresses, dances and music. Events and activities include night kite-flying amid illuminated colorful, historical monuments and balconies, kite flying competitions, performances by cultural troupes, performance by famous folk singers, dancing horses and jhumar dances, stalls with kites, bangles, flowers and handicrafts and tonga rides. You can enjoy meals on Food street at the Punjabi Food Festival.

Declan Walsh wrote in The Guardian: “It is one of Pakistan's great parties — a joyous spring festival in the southern city of Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, where party goers crowd on to rooftops under a riotous sky filled with fluttering kites. [Source: Declan Walsh, The Guardian, March 11, 2006]

Aamir Latif of the Anadolu Agency wrote: “ Basant was taken to its zenith by former President Pervez Musharraf, who made it an international event between 2004 — 2008. It promoted Lahore as the country's cultural hub and prompted citizens to rent out roofs of their homes for use in kite-flying events throughout the month. [Source: Aamir Latif, Anadolu Agency, May 2, 2019]

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