February 23, 2017
LAHORE: The literati anxiously waiting for the fifth Annual Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) will have to wait one more day for the even to begin.
The event, which was expected to start from Friday has been postponed by a day in lieu of the security situation of the city.
The event will take place on February 25 and February 26 at Avari Hotel, confirmed the organisers on Thursday.
"In deference to recent events, the festival has been scaled down from three days to two, limited to lectures and discussions," said Razi Ahmed, founder and CEO of LLF, in the press statement.
"We remain grateful to the Punjab government and the people of Lahore who have wholly embraced the festival since its founding in 2013."
The programme will be posted, and updated, as required, on the LLF website
This year, many international and local literati were set to attend the festival including Michael Palin, one of the members of comedy troupe Monty Python, William Darymple, Ayesha Jalal, Mohsin Hamid, Molly Crabapple is an award-winning artist, writer and author of Drawing Blood, Iraqi novelist Sinan Antoon, former Pakistani actress Shabnam, Sheema Kermani
Some of most exciting sessions include 'Bano Qudsia ki Yaad', 'Theatre of Resistance', 'Nawi Punjabi Nazman', 'Wives, Daughters and Courtesans of the Raj', 'Pakistan at 70' and 'Naya Savera' among others.
After the explosion in Lahore’s Z-Block on Thursday, the fate of the festival was hanging in balance due to security concerns. The Punjab government had also issued a notification cancelling all college events including convocations and sports day in Lahore Division.
Earlier in the evening, the organisers had tweeted “We are awaiting a final go ahead from the Government of Punjab; as of now everything as per the regular course.”
We are awaiting a final go ahead from the Govt of Punjab; as of now everything as per the regular course
— LLF (@lhrlitfest) February 23, 2017