Heritage & Culture Desk  |  April 2025  |  4 min read

 

⚡ Quick Takeaways

•       The Punjab Government has approved a new cultural initiative, ‘Punjab Dharti Rang’, with an estimated budget of Rs3 billion over three years. •       District-level cultural committees will be established to organise, coordinate and promote activities across the province. •       The project aims to revive Basant, Mela Chiraghan and other traditional cultural and religious festivals that have declined in recent years. •       Youth engagement is a core focus, with festivals, exhibitions and competitions planned to surface and support local talent. •       A dedicated training and skill development component will support artists and artisans in building sustainable livelihoods in cultural industries.

 

 

The Punjab Government has approved a new three-year cultural revival programme titled ‘Punjab Dharti Rang’ — a broad-based initiative designed to restore the province’s rich festival traditions, empower local artists and artisans, and embed cultural identity more deeply into the lives of younger generations. With an estimated Rs3 billion earmarked for inclusion in the upcoming budget, the project represents one of the most significant provincial investments in cultural heritage in recent memory.

 

By the Numbers

Rs3 Billion Estimated project budget

3 Years Programme duration

District-Level Cultural committees in every district

 

 

Festival Revival: Basant, Mela Chiraghan and Beyond

At the heart of Punjab Dharti Rang is an effort to restore traditions that have either been banned, commercially sidelined or allowed to fade due to lack of institutional support. Two festivals in particular have been named as priorities: Basant, the spring kite-flying festival once synonymous with Lahore’s cultural identity before being suspended on safety grounds, and Mela Chiraghan, the Festival of Lights associated with the Sufi shrine of Shah Hussain in Lahore — one of Punjab’s most beloved spiritual and cultural celebrations.

The project will establish formal cultural committees at the district level across Punjab. These bodies will be responsible for planning, coordinating and sustaining cultural activity in their respective areas, creating a governance structure that distributes programme ownership beyond Lahore and into the province’s secondary cities and rural districts.

Festival / Activity	Significance
Basant	Spring kite festival; iconic Lahore tradition suspended due to safety concerns
Mela Chiraghan	Festival of Lights at Shah Hussain’s shrine; central Sufi cultural event in Lahore
Traditional Arts & Crafts Exhibitions	Showcase Punjabi folk crafts, textiles, music and performing arts at district level
Cultural & Religious Events	Broad calendar of provincial and district-level community celebrations

 

 

Youth Engagement and Talent Development

Punjab Dharti Rang explicitly targets younger Punjabis as a primary audience. Officials have identified youth disengagement from traditional cultural forms as a gap the project aims to close — both for its social value and for the long-term sustainability of folk arts, crafts and performance traditions that require an active younger generation of practitioners and audiences.

Planned activities include festivals, public exhibitions and competitive events designed to surface and reward local talent in areas including visual arts, handicrafts, music, dance and folk performance. By creating competitive platforms alongside celebratory events, the project provides a pathway for talented young people to gain recognition and, potentially, professional opportunities within the cultural sector.

✅ Youth Programme Components: Cultural festivals at district level • Arts, crafts and talent competitions • Public exhibitions showcasing local work • Engagement with youth in heritage preservation • Pathways to professional opportunities in cultural industries

 

 

Artisan Training and Cultural Industry Support

A structured training and skill development component addresses the livelihoods dimension of cultural preservation. Artists and artisans — including those working in traditional crafts such as embroidery, pottery, block printing, woodwork and folk music — will have access to formal skills programmes designed to improve both the quality and commercial viability of their work. The aim is to connect heritage craft skills with economic opportunity, enabling practitioners to sustain themselves through their cultural work rather than abandoning it for other employment.

📊 Analysis — Cultural Economy Potential: Punjab’s folk arts and craft sectors are largely informal and undercapitalised. A government-backed training infrastructure, combined with exhibition and festival platforms that create demand, could formalise part of this economy. For the initiative to have lasting impact beyond the three-year budget cycle, the skill development component will need to generate self-sustaining commercial networks rather than simply producing event-driven output.

 

⚠️ Note — Budget Pending Approval: The Rs3 billion allocation for Punjab Dharti Rang is subject to inclusion in the upcoming provincial budget. Full programme details, including district-level rollout timelines and the specific mechanism for Basant’s revival, have not yet been officially published. Confirmed details will be available upon budget announcement.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: All information in this article is based on publicly available data and official statements. This content is intended for general informational purposes only.