RAWALPINDI: A seven-day spring festival started at Nawaz Sharif Park on Sunday.

The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has arranged the festival in the park where swings, food stalls and flowers have been put on display.

Punjab Minister for Informal Education Raja Rashid Hafeez and PHA Chairman Asif Mehmood also visited the festival on Sunday.

In the flower stalls, the PHA has arranged spring flowers in different shapes, some in the shapes of the national flag, birds etc.

Folk dancers were also invited to present the local culture on the occasion.

Special security arrangements have been made in the park with walk-through gates installed on the main entry point.

Police personnel, including women, were deployed in the area.

“The basic aim of the spring festival is to provide an opportunity to the people to have fun,”

the PHA chairman told Dawn.

He said Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar was expected to visit the city and formally inaugurate the festival in a day or two.

The official said a stall had also been established in the park to provide saplings to the citizens to plant them in their houses.

He said the Clean and Green Pakistan drive was underway in the city.

The PHA has also invited renowned artists to perform during the festival.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2019