One sky, many celebrations: kite-flying festivals in Pakistan and Glasgow
They might be thousands of miles apart, but Lahore, Pakistan, and Glasgow’s Southside share a love of kite-flying. Community reporter Farhana Ahmed explores the similarities between Pakistan’s Basant festival and Glasgow’s Pollok Kite Fest.
By Farhana Ahmed | Photos by Vera Cloe Zebrowska
Across the Commonwealth, celebration takes many forms. From vibrant street festivals to quiet moments of reflection, these traditions show how culture lives not just in history books but in everyday practices passed from one generation to the next.
One such tradition is Basant, Pakistan’s famous kite festival. Although rooted in South Asia, its themes of community, creativity and joy are universal.
The image of kites rising into the air has emotional and cultural meaning. This year, the festival returned to Lahore after almost twenty years, marking the beginning of spring.
The start of this new season is connected with the livelihood of many Pakistani farmers who rely on agriculture. The festival is a celebration of abundance after months of labour on the farms.
Kite-flying is also more than a hobby. It is a competitive sport, with friends and family attempting to cut the strings of rival kites. The dicey methods are one of the reasons for the festival’s 19 year ban. Success requires patience, technique and practice, making each flight a display of both creativity and skill.
This competition can be traced back decades. A news article published in 1962, by the Pakistani newspaper, Nawa-e-Waqt, reported that the favourable windy conditions that year allowed for a noteworthy view of pecha (kite-cutting). These battles, taking place across the city, were enjoyed by both participants and spectators.
The festival also speaks to creativity, combining making, decorating and the handling of kites with care and technique. A simple kite becomes an expression of artistry from creating the dor (urdu for twine) to the purchase or creation of the guddi (urdu for kite). And an object made from paper, string and bamboo becomes a symbol of freedom, hope and the changing seasons.
For many people, the festival is strongly linked to memories of home, family and community. It brings people together across generations, with older relatives passing on kite-making and flying techniques while younger participants experience the tradition for themselves.
In Younas Adeeb’s book, Mera Shehar Lahore, he recounts that those from areas surrounding Old Lahore were invited to people’s rooftops for Basant, entrenching that part of the city as a continued cultural hot spot where people of all ages would gather.
While Basant is a tradition popular in Pakistan and India, its spirit can be recognised in community events across Scotland too. Festivals that bring people outdoors, encourage participation and fill public spaces with colour play an important role in bringing communities together.
Photos of Pollok Kite Fest by Vera Cloe Zebrowska
The Pollok Kite Fest is one example of this, hosted by the Village Storytelling Centre each May on Pollok Hill. Like Basant, the event brings communities together and marks festivity, freedom and the arrival of brighter seasons.
Speaking to Helen from the Village Storytelling Centre about their annual Kite Fest, she shared that it “always feels like a special day for the local community and everyone involved in bringing it together.”
Initially inspired by the suggestion of a local resident who had been to something similar elsewhere, the festival came to fruition in 2022. It followed creative consultation by The Village and the local Artist in Residence, Hannah Brackston, who told Village Storytelling that local people wanted to feel connected, more community, events and better use of green spaces.
But it’s also created a community in itself welcoming people from all over. Helen continues: “the atmosphere is one of friendship and joy. It’s a place to come together and celebrate Pollok – the place and the people – and it’s great to see people now travel to join in the fun from other parts of the city whilst still feeling very much like it belongs to the local community.”
Whether soaring above the rooftops of Lahore or appearing at events closer to home, kites remind us how celebration can connect people across cultures. Looking up at the same sky, we find shared experiences of joy, creativity and togetherness.
Pollok Kite Fest will return in 2027 with loads of activities for people of all ages to get involved in, from workshops, face painting, storytelling, music and, of course, kite making, flying and spotting. Keep an eye on the Village Story Telling Centre for more information: villagestorytelling.org.uk
