LAHORE: On the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Lahore is preparing to hold a grand kite festival for Basant 2027, scheduled for March 12 to 14. The plan includes decorating major roads, flyovers and the city’s entry and exit points. Meanwhile, police are still arresting people who sell kites ahead of the festival, because the ban remains in force.
On the same day the decoration plan was reviewed, Ravi Road police arrested three men accused of supplying kites and banned string. The arrests underline that kite flying is being permitted only within a regulated festival framework, not as a general return to unrestricted kite flying.
Punjab Housing Minister Bilal Yasin chaired a meeting to review Basant preparations. Deputy Commissioner Lahore Captain (retd) Muhammad Ali Ijaz gave a detailed briefing on the arrangements.
Bilal Yasin said major roads in Lahore would be specially decorated for Basant, and flyovers and other prominent sites would also be decorated. He said Lahore’s entry and exit points would be fitted with special banners, colourful decorations and lighting so the city looks its best for the festival.
He told all relevant departments to work together and finish the arrangements on time so citizens can enjoy a pleasant festival. He also asked them to make the arrangements more effective and to put citizens’ convenience first during the festival.
The planning is part of the provincial government’s effort to hold Basant under strict rules. The festival was banned for 18 years because of deaths and injuries caused by metal- and chemical-coated kite string, which cut the throats of motorcyclists and pedestrians and caused power failures when it touched overhead lines.
Basant returned to Lahore from February 6 to 8, 2026, under the Punjab Regulation of Kite Flying Act, 2025, in what authorities treated as a pilot. Seventeen people died during that festival, according to figures the Home Department provided to the Lahore High Court, as The Lahore Times has reported.
As we reported earlier, the Chief Minister set a three-day window for Basant in March 2027. The district administration had proposed five designated zones for producing kites and string, but it has since withdrawn that decision. Licensed manufacturers may now produce anywhere within Lahore’s district limits, but only at the address approved in their licence.
Registration for manufacturers opened on the Basant Portal on September 5, and only those issued a No Objection Certificate may produce kite-flying material. Only approved kite sizes, cotton string and panna are permitted. According to an official in the district administration quoted by Dawn, kite sellers, traders and associations will be asked to register in January or February, with dates to be announced later.
The Parks and Horticulture Authority is planning a grand festival with floats, food and music. Arrangements have now entered their final phase, with decisions on kite traders’ licences pending. The PHA has also said roads will be decorated in categories.
The District Kite Flying Association has been pressing the government to move quickly on licensing. At a press conference in Allama Iqbal Town last month, held after a meeting of the association’s office-bearers, Chairman Khawaja Nadeem Saeed Wain and President Sheikh Saleem called for licences for kite manufacturers to be issued early, The Express Tribune reported.
Wain said kite manufacturing should be allowed in Punjab for four to five months from September so that adequate stocks could be prepared before the festival. He argued that once Basant had been announced, permission to manufacture kites should follow. He also said the kite-flying business should be allowed to continue on a permanent basis and that licences for manufacturers should be reissued, citing the difficulties citizens faced in buying kites and string during Basant 2026.
In remarks reported by The Express Tribune on September 3, kite-flyers’ representatives said early issuance of licences would help prevent a repeat of this year’s shortage. Wain said manufacturers would need at least four months to produce sufficient stocks. The representatives also called for safety measures during the festival, particularly for children.
Manufacturer registration opened on September 5, about six months before the festival, compared with roughly one month’s lead time for Basant 2026.
Enforcement continues on the ground. Ravi Road police arrested three men accused of buying, selling and supplying kites despite the ban.
According to SP City Arshad Hayat Kanju, SHO Ravi Road Mian Asim and a police team acted on a tip-off. Police said the suspects hid kites in cardboard boxes and supplied them to different areas using local transport.
Police recovered 400 ready-made kites worth lakhs of rupees and 12 spools (charkhis) of banned string. A case has been registered against the three men and an investigation has begun.
The SP City said the city is being closely watched for kite flying and kite selling. Action is being taken against violators without exception, he said.
The Ravi Road raid is one of many in recent days. Police have arrested two inter-district kite dealers with 520 kites. They also foiled a supply of chemical string at Shera Kot and seized 600 kites in a Race Course raid. Earlier, Lahore police reported seizures of chemical string alongside a wider Dolphin Squad sweep.
Authorities are trying to promote a festival that is central to Lahore’s cultural identity while stopping the dangerous string that caused its ban. The licensing system is meant to bring the kite business into a regulated framework: manufacturers can register now, and traders and sellers are due to follow early next year. Until then, police are treating unlicensed trade as illegal, as the Ravi Road case shows.
For many older Lahoris, the rooftop festivals of the past are fond memories. For families who lost relatives to stray string, the return of Basant causes worry. How well the decoration plans and the crackdown on dangerous string are carried out will decide whether Basant 2027 is remembered as a safe return or a risky one.
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