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The 16-day cultural extravaganza, a festival featuring art and culture titled ‘Lahore Lahore Aye,’ is set to begin on Oct 28.

The festival will celebrate Lahore’s artistic prowess while presenting rich regional cultural expressions from across Punjab.

On the opening day of the festival, there will be two inaugural ceremonies: one of Punjab Art Exhibition at Alhmara and the other at Alhamra Cultural Complex. The festival will be replete with cultural splendors, including music concerts, parallel theatre performances, a book fair, literary talks, and programmes for children. The festival activities will be held at the two venues: Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, and Alhamra Cultural Complex, Gaddafi Stadium.

The Punjab Art Exhibition, featuring paintings on Punjab, will be inaugurated at Alhamra on the first day of the festival and will run for all 16 days. In the same evening, Parallel Theatre performances by various theatre groups will commence, with the inaugural play ‘Kala Meda Bhes’ staged by Ajoka Theatre. At Alhamra Cultural Complex, there will be cultural and musical performances. The festival will also include a photography competition titled ‘Lahore Through the Lens’.

Classical singing will be an integral part of the festival, with three prominent classical gharanas —Sham Churasi, Patiala, and Gwalior Gharana, performing at Alhamra.

Folk singers Saeen Zahoor and Tehseen Sakina will also perform at Alhamra on Nov 2. A Sufi Night on Nov 9 will feature the Sami Brothers at Alhamra, and Hadiqa Kayani will perform on Nov 10 at Alhamra Cultural Complex.

A musical bouquet titled ‘Colours of Pakistan’ will bring together artists from different parts of Pakistan, including Akhtar Channar, Gul Panra, Mai Dhai, Iqbal Hussain, Shaiegill, and others.

The festival will also feature prominent singers such as Sahir Ali Baga, Hadiqa Kayani, Nasibu Lal, Arif Lohar, Hasan Rahim, Humira Arshad, Nadeem Abbas Loonewala, and others.

Originally published in Dawn, October 27th, 2023