Basant festival returns for fifth year
Carrigaline Community Park will come alive on 4 July as the Basant Festival returns to Cork, bringing one of South Asia's most colourful cultural traditions to Ireland. The event will run from 2pm-6pm.
This will mark the fifth year of the Basant Festival in Cork. The family-friendly festival will feature kite flying, live performances, traditional live drumming, food stalls, and activities for all ages.
Basant, meaning 'yellow', celebrates the arrival of spring in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent.
Traditionally associated with fields of blooming mustard and sunflower crops, the festival has been celebrated for centuries across Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
In cities such as Lahore, rooftops become stages for spectacular kite-flying displays that fill the skies from dawn until dusk.
Festival organiser Amna Walayat said: “We need more public spaces where communities can connect, understand each other, and build stronger relationships despite our differences."
“I don't see Basant as merely a kite-flying festival. It is a large-scale collective public cultural performance where people share traditions, skills, and experiences from their countries of origin,” she said.
Previous attendees have praised the festival's welcoming atmosphere. Sadia Ather Butt, who travelled from Longford with her family last year, described it as “a great display of culture and inclusion.”
The festival is supported by Cork County Council through the Creative Communities Scheme and Local Festival Fund. Additional support was provided by local businesses.
This year's festival will also feature a display of traditional Japanese Koinobori kites by Cork-based artist Kim-Ling Morris.
The carp-shaped kites symbolise perseverance, strength, and the ability to overcome challenges, while their movement in the wind represents youth, energy, and hope.
Organisers are inviting people from all communities and backgrounds to attend, wear something yellow, fly a kite, and take part in a unique celebration of culture, creativity, and community spirit.