FAIR LOCATION MONTH HELD Maghi Mela Muktsar January Rural Sports Kila Raipur (Ludhiana) February Basant Patiala February Hola Mohalla Anandpur Sahib (Rupnagar) March Baisakhi Talwandi Sabo (Bhatinda) April Urs of Sheikh Mujaddid-Alif-SaaniRauza of Sheikh Ahmed Farooqi Sirhind August Chappar Mela Chappar (Ludhiana) September Sheikh Farid Agman Purb Faridkot September Ram Tirth V.Ram Tirth(Amritsar) November Diwali Amritsar November Shaheedi Jor Mela Sirhind December Harballabh sangeet Sammelan Jalandhar December Baba Sodal Jalandhar December

Kisan Mela
Punjab Agricultural University organizes a Kisan Mela in Ludhiana every year, where new techniques of farming are shown to the farmers. New hybrid quality seeds of food grains are displayed and sold.

Prof. Mohan Singh Mela
This is a cultural festival where artists, writers, poets and dancers from all over Punjab gather and perform. The aim of this festival is to promote Punjabi culture, language and literature.

The other festivals that are celebrated in Ludhiana are the Chhapar Festival & Baisakhi.

The festivals of Punjab have one common objective of bringing people together to participate in the happiness of the occasion. Some of the festivals are as follows :

Baisakhi :: Basant Panchami :: Holi :: Dussehra :: Diwali :: Gurupurab :: Lohri 

Baisakhi

Baisakhi, celebrated with joyous music and dancing, is New Year's Day in Punjab. It falls on April 13, though once in 36 years it occurs on 14th April. It was on this day that the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa (the Sikh brotherhood) in 1699. The Sikhs, therefore, celebrate this festival as a collective birthday.

Sikhs visits gurdwaras (Sikh temples) and listen to kirtans (religious songs) and discourses. After the prayer, kada prasad (sweetened semolina) is served to the congregation. The function ends with langar, the community lunch served by volunteers.

Processions are taken out, at the head of which are the panj piaras. Mock duels and bands playing religious tunes are part of the processions. Schoolchildren also enthusiatically take part in them.

For people in villages this festival is a last opportunity for relaxing before they start harvesting of corn. Processions and feasting follow readings of the holy scripture of the Sikhs, Guru Granth Sahib.

Basant

Basant is celebrated towards the close of winter in the month of January-February. The weather circle seems to be changing otherwise Basant used to bring a message of softness in the weather in place of the hard cold season. Basant is the time when mustard fields are yellow with it the spring is ushered in. Punjabis welcome the change and celebrate the day by wearing yellow clothes, holding feasts and by organising kite flying.

Holi

It is spring time in India, flowers and fields are in bloom and the country goes wild with people running on the streets and smearing each other with brightly hued powders and coloured water. This is the festival of Holi, celebrated on the day after the full moon in early March every year.

Originally a festival to celebrate good harvests and fertility of the land, Holi is now a symbolic commemoration of a legend from Hindu Mythology. The story centres around an arrogant king who resents his son worshipping Lord Vishnu. He attempts to kill his son but fails each time. Finally, the king's sister Holika who is said to be immune to burning, sits with the boy in a huge fire. However, the prince Prahlad emerges unscathed, while his aunt burns to death. Holi commemorates this event from mythology, and huge bonfires are burnt on the eve of Holi as its symbolic representation. 

This exuberant festival is also associated with the immortal love of Krishna and Radha, and hence, Holi is spread over 16 days in Vrindavan as well as Mathura - the two cities with which Lord Krishna shared a deep affiliation. Apart from the usual fun with coloured powder and water, Holi is marked by vibrant processions which are accompanied by folk songs, dances and a general sense of abandoned vitality.

Sikhs observe Holla Mohalla a day after Holi . On this day thousands of people gather at Anandpur Sahib to celebrate the day. Hola Mohalla is particularly famous for staging mock battles by using ancient weapons. There is a colourful procession "The march of Nihang "in their colourful robes in the form of armed warriors and exhibit their ardour and enthusiasm.

Diwali

Deepawali or Diwali, the most pan-Indian of all Hindu festivals, is a festival of lights symbolising the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness. The word `Deepawali' literally means rows of diyas (clay lamps). A family festival, it is celebrated 20 days after Dussehra, on the 13th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Asvin (October-November)

Continuing the story of Rama, this festival commemorates Lord Rama's return to his kingdom Ayodhya after completing his 14-year exile. Twinkling oil lamps or diyas light up every home and firework displays are common all across the country. The goddess Lakshmi (consort of Vishnu), who is the symbol of wealth and prosperity, is also worshipped on this day.

This festive occasion also marks the beginning of the Hindu new year and Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, the symbol of auspiciousness and wisdom, is also worshipped in most Hindu homes on this day.

Another view is that Deepawali is meant to celebrate the destruction of the arrogant tyrant Bali at the hands of Vishnu when the latter appeared in his Vamana (dwarf) avatar.

The occasion of Deepawali sees the spring-cleaning and white-washing of houses; decorative designs or rangolis are painted on floors and walls. New clothes are bought and family members and relatives gather together to offer prayers, distribute sweets and to light up their homes.

In West Bengal, the Deepawali festival is celebrated as Kali Puja and Kali, Siva's consort, is worshipped on this day.

Dussehra

Dussehra (tenth day) is one of the significant Hindu festivals, celebrated with much joie de vivre in the entire country. The occasion marks the triumph of Lord Rama over the demon king, Ravana, the victory of good over evil. Brilliantly decorated tableaux and processions depicting various facets of Rama's life are taken out. On the tenth day, the Vijayadasmi day, colossal effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhkarna and son Meghnath are placed in vast open spaces. Rama, accompanied by his consort Sita and his brother Lakshmana, arrive and shoot arrows of fire at these effigies, which are stuffed with explosive material. The result is a deafening blast, enhanced by the shouts of merriment and triumph from the spectators.

It is significant that the Lord invoked the blessings of the divine mother, Goddess Durga, before actually going out to battle. In burning the effigies the people are asked to burn the evil within them, and thus follow the path of virtue and goodness, bearing in mind the instance of Ravana, who despite all his might and majesty was destroyed for his evil ways. It must be remembered that Ravana was a great scholar and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, but the very powers that were bestowed on him for his steadfast devotion proved to be his undoing, due to his gross misuse of the same.

The festival is also celebrated with intense fervour and zest, in West Bengal and Bengalis nationwide, in the form of Durga Puja. The festivities commence on the first night in the month of Ashwin (September-October). The vibrant festivities last for ten days, of which nine nights are spent in worship, 'Navaratri'. The tenth day is devoted to the worship of goddess Durga, who occupies a special position in the Hindu pantheon of gods and goddesses. She is 'Shakti', the cosmic energy which animates all beings. Beautiful idols of the Mother Goddess are worshipped in elaborate pandals for nine days, and on the ninth day, these are carried out in procession for immersion (visarjan) in a river or pond.

In northern India, the festival wears the colourful garb of Ramlila wherein various incidents from Rama's life are enacted, as is the destruction of Ravana and Bharat Milap, that is the reunion of Ram and his estranged brother Bharat, on the former's return to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile. In the Kulu valley in Himachal Pradesh, the hill- folk celebrate Dussehra with a grand mass ceremony wherein village deities are taken out in elaborate processions. The Dussehra of Mysore, is also quite famous where caparisoned elephants lead a colourful procession through the gaily dressed streets of the city.

Like other festivals in the country, Dussehra / Durga Puja is an occasion for festivities on a grand scale, which emanate a genuine feeling of bonhomie and warmth.

Gurpurbs

Anniversaries associated with the lives of the Sikh Gurus are referred to as Gurpurbs (festivals). Of these the important ones are the birthdays of Guru Nanak and Guru Govind Singh and the martyrdom days of Guru Arjun Dev and Guru Teg Bahadur. 

Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, was born in a Punjabi village (which is now in Pakistan) in 1469. His birth anniversary, or Guru Nanak's jayanti, which falls in the months of October-November, is enthusiastically celebrated by Sikhs as gurpurab.

Gurpurbs witness the culminations of Prabhat Pheris, the early morning religious procession which goes around the localities singing shabads (hymns). These Pheris generally start three weeks before the festival. Devotees offer sweets and tea when the procession passes by their residence.

The celebrations start with the three-day akhand path in which the Granth Sahib (the holy book of the Sikhs) is read continuously from beginning to end without a break. Conclusion of the reading coincides with the day of the festival.

On this day the Granth Sahib is carried in procession throughout the village or city. It is placed on a float or a van strewn with flowers. Five armed guards, who represent the panj pyares, head the procession carrying Nishan Sahibs (the Sikh flag). Local bands are hired for playing religious music for the procession. Marching schoolchildren are a special part of the procession. Free sweets and langar are also offered to the general public outside some gurdwaras.

Sikhs visit gurdwaras (Sikh temples) where special programmes are arranged and kirtans (religious songs) are sung. Langar or community lunch is also arranged in the gurdwaras. The langar is open to people of all walks of life and of all faiths. It is served by local volunteers with a spirit of seva (service) and bhakti (devotion).

The Tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, was born on 2 December 1666 in Patna (Bihar). His Guruship is highly significant as he forged the distinctive identity of the Sikhs with five K and called gave the name Khalsa (the pure) to his followers. His birthday, which falls in December, is also marked by prayer readings, kirtans and processions.

The martyrdom day of the fifth Guru, Arjun Dev, is observed with prayers and processions. On this day stalls are erected on roadsides for offering kachi lassi (sweetened milk) to the thirsty passers-by to commemorate the death of the Guru who was burnt to death during the hot months of May and June.

The ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was beheaded in Delhi. His martyrdom day is also observed with prayers and processions. It occurs in the month of November.

Lohri
Lohri is a festival connected with the solar year. Generally, it is an accepted fact that this festival is to worship fire. This is particularly a happy occasion for the couples who for the first time celebrated Lohri after their marriage and also the first Lohri of the son born in a family. Children visit homes in the neighbourhood and sing songs. One of the famous ones is :

Sunder Mundari ae ! Hoi! Tera Kaun Bechara ! Hoi! Dullah Bhatti wala ! Hoi!

Dullah Di Dhi viyahi ! Hoi ! Sher ShaKar pai ! Hoi! Kuri de Mamme aaye ! Hoi!

UnaNe ChuRi Kuti ! Hoi! Jimidari Lutti ! Hoi! Ik kola GhuT Gaya ! Jimidar Apni......
source : http://www.ludhianatourism.com/.