In early March to welcome the arrival of spring the Basant Kite flying festival is held in most cities of Punjab with the highlight in Lahore. Basant is celebrated to bid farewell to the winter season and to announce the arrival of the spring season. n Lahore Basant is celebrated in the month of February usually around the 20th of February.
Lahore prepares for the big event with a lot of enthusiasm and zeal. They start the preparation for the festival very early. It is more colorful in the old city of Lahore where everyone wears yellow clothes and flies kites from the rooftops. People from different cities throng Lahore, where kite flying begins at dawn and continues until dusk. The kites are in a variety of shapes, sizes, and different colors.
From huge kites which need three to four people to fly to tiny ones for the kids. Ground glass coats the kite strings to cut down rivals, and excitement reaches fever pitch in the many kite battles throughout the city. Colorful gates are built at all entries including airport, railway station, Ravi bridge, Minar e Pakistan, Thokar Niaz Beg, Chungi Ammar Sadhu, and Motorway toll plaza to greet the people reaching Lahore.
Basant is just one aspect of this spring festival which opens up with a colorful ceremony featuring a performance of 16 army bands, folk dances of Punjab, displays of a brass band, fireworks, acrobatics, and a stall of traditional foods and artisans at work.
