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| March 5, 2006 | Sunday | Safar 4, 1427 |
Spring festival opens today
LAHORE, March 4: The annual spring festival opens today with an official ceremony at the Jilani Park in the evening while Basant will be celebrated in the city on March 12. The festivities from March 5 to 23 will cost the Parks and Horticulture Authority Rs30 million.
PHA Director-General Shabbir Ahmed told newsmen that Basant had been delayed by a week due to the law and order problem in the provincial capital.
He said that the spring festival would open with a colourful ceremony featuring performances of 16 army bands, folk dances of Punjab, display of brass band, fireworks, acrobatics and stalls of traditional food and artisans at work.
The festival would begin at the Jilani Park, Minar-i-Pakistan and Gulshan-i-Iqbal, simultaneously. Punjab Housing and Urban Development Minister Syed Raza Ali Gilani will the chief guest at that Jilani Park ceremony.
The DG said the PHA had also invited cultural troupes from other provinces, besides Punjab, along with foreign music groups to perform at the Jilani Park.
The shows will be presented free of charge at the Jilani Park, Minar-i-Pakistan and Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park. A show of pet birds has already started at the park and will continue till March 23.
He said an All Pakistan kite-flying championship would be held at the Iqbal Guddi Ground from March 5 to 14, while Basant night would be held on March 11. Kite-flying competitions would also be held at the Jialni Park from March 10 to 12, with participation of film artistes.
He said that free music programmes would be presented at the Tourist Street, Old Anarkali, Jilani Park, Mini-Tollinton Market and National Bank Park (adjacent to Centre Point) on Basant night on March 11.
A colourful Basant Rang programme would be presented at the Noor Jehan Hall of the Alahamra Cultural Complex, Qadhafi Stadium, on the night of March 12.
He said a dog show would be held at the Jilani Park on March 13, and tableau and national song competitions would be held among schoolchildren on March 14 with Punjab Population Planning Minister Nasim Lodhi as guest of honour.
In connection with the festival, a mushaira will also be held on March 17 at the Jilani Park where renowned poets will recite their poetry on spring.
He said children from different schools would participate in a spring painting competition at the park on March 18. The paintings will remain on display till March 23 when District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood will give away prizes to the outstanding painters.
He said that a flower arrangement competition between the girls colleges would be held at the Jilani Park on March 18. Punjab Governor’s wife Rubina Khalid Maqbul would give away the prizes. Six bands of the Pakistan Army would perform at the Fortress Stadium on March 23, he added.
He said the spring festival would conclude with the Lahore Parade on March 23 afternoon which would start from Qadhafi Stadium and conclude at the Jilani Park. Floats prepared by the children of different schools, school bands, skaters, cyclists, boy scouts, ‘jhoomer dancers’, brass bands and children clad in traditional dresses of Punjab would participate in the parade. Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had been invited as the chief guest at the concluding ceremony of the festival to be held at the Jilani Park after the parade. The closing ceremony will be followed by a colourful musical programme.
He said colourful gates were being built at all its entries including the airport, railway station, Ravi Bridge, Minar-i-Pakistan, Thokar Niaz Beg, Chungi Amar Sadhu and Motorway Toll Plaza to greet the people reaching the city from other areas of the province. Colourful arches would also be built on Jail Road, Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam and Gulberg Main Boulevard, he added.
Gowalmandi Food Street, Old Anarkali Tourist Street, Fort Road Heritage Street and Jail Road and Gulberg Main Boulevard would be decorated in connection with Basant festivities.
Souvenirs would be distributed among the people arriving in the city at the airport, hotels, Motorway Toll Plaza and Ravi Bridge, he said.
Answering a question, he said the use of metal wire and chemical thread for flying kites by irresponsible elements had given a bad name to Basant as it not only caused frequent power trippings but had also resulted in a large number of deaths.
The sport had been banned by the apex court for almost the whole year, and the two-week permission could be revoked in case there were large-scale violations of the rules devised for a safe Basant.
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