LAHORE: Extravagantly colored kites dueled above Lahore and cries of victory rang out from rooftops on Friday, as the city celebrated the lifting of an 18-year ban on a spectacular three-day traditional Punjabi kite-flying festival.
The Basant, a festival marking the onset of spring, was banned in 2008 after deaths and injuries to motorcyclists and pedestrians from stray kite strings — sometimes coated with metal to make them more fearsome in mid-air battles.
The ban was lifted last year due to public demand, and this year’s festival kicked off at midnight with Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari flying the first kite.
Families and friends crammed through the night onto the rooftops of the Walled City and other neighborhoods, flying kites, beating drums and shouting out “bo-kata!,” or “hacked!,” the victor’s cry after severing an opponent’s string.
Abdul Aziz, 57, a self-described kite-flying addict, had been bereft during the ban. “Today, when I dropped the first kite in air, I felt as if there was a space in my life that was now filled.”
