TAXILA, March 27: Thousands of spectators from different cities descended on Taxila on Tuesday to witness the traditional bull race being held at Heavy Mechanical Complex ground as part of three-day spring festival.

Bulls from Haripur, Pindigheb, Fatehjang, Hazro, Attock, Hassanabdal, Tarnol, Rawalpindi and Ghazi are participating in the competition.

Bull race remains popular in rural areas due to its thrilling and aggressive nature. It also depicts the pride farmers have for their animals and   courage and bravery of the jockey, mostly the owners of the bulls in front of vociferous crowd.

Safeer Khan, an organiser of the event said bull race was one of the attractions for the people of area.

The spectators said that they had been enjoying the event. The show, probably the biggest rural event in area, is watched by hundreds of thousands of people who gathered from across the Potohar region.

The race begins with a march of the prized bulls reared specially on high fat and protein diets. Safdar Shah, in his 80s, said the race was as old as he was and he was watching it every year along with his friends and grand and grandsons.