LAHORE - The Punjab Youth Festival (PYF) 2012 has been registered as the biggest sports, social and cultural activity of the world and Guinness World Record (GWR) Book officials have declared it another world record for Pakistan.
Talking to the journalists here at Bagh-e-Jinnah after meeting the veterans cricketers playing in the Punjab Youth Festival cricket matches, Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan, who is also the chairman organising committee of the festival, informed that apart from Sports Board Punjab (SBP), Higher Education Commission (HEC), schools, Tevta, Punjab Information Technology Board, Agriculture, Auqaq, Information, Live Stock and Dairy Development, Punjab Horticulture, HUD and PHE, Punjab Small Industries, Population Welfare, Social Welfare and Tourism departments got involved in this festival that was launched on August 26, 2012.
“The idea of holding such a big festival came when we saw a mass participation of more than 900,000 people in the Punjab Sports Festival 2011-12. We put up the event for GWR but there was a procedure required to be followed. Thus we planned the hold the Punjab Youth Festival and now it’s been declared the biggest event of the world,” he added.
“We will hold around 20 Guinness events besides the cycle race and the marathon which he have planned before closing ceremony of the festival. In street art, the work will be stretched to nine kilometres to break the previous record while 5,000 boys and girls will take part in this record attempt,” he added.
He also congratulated the nation for getting another Guinness record. “Holding such a big activity was not less than a dream come true for Pakistan and its nation.” He said they had planned 17 kilometres marathon which would have the participation of around 100,000 people of all walks of life. He rejected all the allegations of corruption saying that to show the festival’s transparency, an agreement with Transparency International was being made.