Pakistan possesses a rich history that is embellished with many beautiful traditions; and the many festivals celebrated here every year mark the colourful culture of the Land of Paks. Besides religious and national festivals, a number of cultural festivals are also celebrated by Pakistanis every year with great zeal and zest. In this column, we will only highlight the cultural festivals and take a look on religious and national ones in some other article.
The most popular cultural festivals of Pakistan are Lok Virsa Mela, Horse & Cattle Show, Basant or Jashn-e-Baharaan and Silk Route Festival. Lok Virsa Mela is celebrated at Lok Virsa (Islamabad) for a whole week — usually during the early days of October. The festival offers a unique opportunity to art lovers to see the artisans making beautiful handicrafts on the spot. The festival has got international acclaim that now artisans from 20 different countries participate in this festival. The handicrafts of the four provinces of Pakistan are displayed in a separate section where people can get a feel of only Paki culture. 
Horse and cattle show is yet another week long festival that starts from the last days of February and takes place till the early days of March. The venue of this event is Lahore Fortress Stadium. The festival highlights Pakistan’s achievements in the industrial and agricultural fields. Another colourful festival that marks the arrival of spring is ‘Basant festival’ that is celebrated in the Punjab. It is also called ‘Jashn-e-Baharan’. Mainly the event is celebrated in Lahore and people from all over Pakistan gather there to celebrate the beautiful spring season with friends and family members. The main activity of this festival is kite-flying that is however, banned by the government due to rising number of accidents because of the careless attitude from the people; but still as the festival comes only once a year, many people especially the youngsters can’t resist themselves from participating in the kite-flying competitions! However, if proper precautions are taken, then Basant can be celebrated fully and without having any loss. The northern areas of Pakistan also hold a fair share of their cultural heritage and Silk Route festival is the platform where you can get to see the art and traditions of the northern parts of Pakistan. The main attraction of the festival is the folk dance performed by the dancers of our northern areas. In addition to this, the musicians and performers from the neighbouring Xinjiang Province of China and Central Asia also participate in the event and add colour to it. Other attractions of the Silk Route Festival are the food mela, camping and polo matches.
