Lahore Revives Basant as Safety Rules Tighten (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: The skies of the city of Lahore are beginning to dot with hundreds and thousands of kites as a beloved spring festival returns to its skies after a ban of almost 25 years. There's a lot of joy, there's a lot of energy here where we are at the moment on the top of a rooftop in Old Lahore. This is a festival that was banned back in 2007 due to a series of deadly incidents and as you can hear there's a lot of happiness at its return. The festival known as Basant symbolizes the beginning of spring and it's celebrated by people going to their rooftops, hanging out with their friends and family, eating delicious food and covering the sky with ornate kites while they have competitive kite battles. How could such a festival be called a danger to the public? Well, competitive participants have tried to damage others' kites by putting metal or glass on their strings which has often led to fatalities and injuries. There have also been fatal falls and electrocutions. The festival is being brought back after much demand and to showcase the positive image of Pakistan. Officials in Lahore have taken measures to make sure the festival is safe. They're requiring all kites to be purchased from authorized sellers and posted on Instagram they've already confiscated over a hundred thousand kites. The demand is so high that kites are being sold for four times more than what they're worth and rooftops in prime locations are going for up to two million rupees which is over seven thousand dollars. Within a few days over 540 million rupees or about two million dollars worth of kites have been sold. After nearly 25 years Basant is back for three days only and there will be a close watch as to how the safety of this festival will be managed. But one thing is for sure, Lahore is having an unforgettable weekend.