The highlight of these festivities s Jashen e Bahara(n) (The spring festival), which is popularly called Basant festival. This festival is being traditionally celebrated, since ages, to welcome the spring. However, it has, over the years, become a major tourist attraction. People from various walks of life, including diplomats, artists and celebrities, throng to Lahore from allover the country to be a part of this unique national event.
The entire community enthusiastically participates in kite flying competition, making Lahore skies, throughout day and night, resplendent with kites of various types, sizes and colours. These kites lend Lahore skies, during that period, the look of a big lake on whose surface can be seen floating innumerable giant size flower petals -nay water fowls of various sizes and colours.
Night time kite flying, accompanied by loud tempting music and fire-works, is also gaining in popularity because of the spectacular sight that it presents. One can see hundreds of white colour kites dancing at night on a well-lit sky and competing for supremacy. The winners in the kite flying competitions rejoice by beating drums.
On this occasion, people generally like to dress in yellow -the event's main colour depicting blossoming spring. However, some persons use only yellow scarves.
Basant is not only a kite flying event, but also a cultural festival of traditional food, costumes, arts, crafts, dance and music. The rich host family and friends celebrate the event with a lavish meal. Corporate hospitality is also visible and the trend among companies to host their guests, on this occasion, is on the increase.
The festival has gained world- wide popularity as a cultural festival of Pakistan and has, over the years, become a great tourist attraction. Though the tradition to celebrate this festival is very old, the scale at which its impact has now grown is comparatively new
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