"Due to the large numbers of deaths and injuries suffered at the festival each year bullet wounds from errant gunfire, death and injury caused by dangerous kite wires coated with chemicals or sharp objects in order to cut other kite lines during competition, electrocutions, people falling off of rooftops it was cancelled in 2008. This year's festival began Thursday at midnight and will end on Sunday evening."
"Authorities say the event will be closely monitored and that lawbreakers will receive fines or prison time. In a message on X, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz posted a view of video monitors at Lahore's Basant Control Room while imploring residents to "stay away from electrical wires and transformers" and to make sure that their "rooftops are secure.""
Basant began as an agrarian spring festival and evolved into an urban Lahore celebration marked by sweets, music and competitive kite flying. The event was cancelled in 2008 after numerous deaths and injuries from stray gunfire, electrocutions, rooftop falls and kite lines sheathed in glass or metal. The ban was officially lifted in December 2025 with security measures including monitoring, fines or prison for lawbreakers, outlawing killer string, mandatory QR codes on kites and strings, and manufacturer registration. The revived festival runs from Thursday midnight through Sunday evening with families gathering on rooftops to fly kites.
Read at www.dw.com
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