A large number of students, particularly youngsters from various educational institutes including University of Punjab, University of Education, Government College University, FC University and Government College Township along with civil society members also attended the festival. The programme was moderated by news anchor Farhan Shabbir and TV Host Maryam Farhan.
The aim of the festival was to highlight the importance of literature, language, art and culture amongst the youth for promoting diversity, acceptance, tolerance, harmony and peace. To highlight the importance of cultural diversity and art of Pakistan, activities like theatre performances, panel discussions on importance of culture and interfaith harmony, puppet shows, oral history sessions, poetry sessions and folk music performances were also organised.
A cultural evening was also the part of the festival where the renowned folk singer "Malkoo" performed the cultural as well as national songs to engage the youth.
In his opening address, Provisional Minister of Punjab for Chief Minister's Inspection Team Muhammad Ajmal Cheema lauded the efforts of the stakeholders and said: "Culture activities are the way of promoting peace acceptance and harmony. The presence of youth shows that our future is exposed to positive activities." He continued that state-run institutes and the civil society were doing their best in reviving the culture activities, especially through the youth engagement.
Director General of Punjab Institute of Language, Arts and Culture Dr Sughra Sadaf threw light on the importance of languages and said that languages and culture are not the dividers, rather they are beautiful connectors through which we get attracted to different people and accept them the way they are.
"We should accept the cultural differences the way they are instead of striving for uniformity. We should enjoy the diversity," she said, stressing that the initiative intends to take the students from different educational institutes on board and engage them in cultural activities.