LAHORE: As spring approaches,so doesthe season of festivals. The week will end with two festivals the same days.

The `Afkar-e-Taaza Think Fest 2018` will be held at Alhamra on Jan 12 and 13.

Dr Umar Saif and Dr Nizamuddin will open the festival on Friday, while the keynote address will be by Tawakkal Kamran, Nobel Peace L aureate.

The second day`s keynote address will be Sayeeda Warsi, former UK minister.

Her talk will be focused on `The enemy within: a tale of Muslim Britain`.

Sessions on the first day will include foreign relations and rising right wing politics in general, violence and society, culture and heritage and neighbouring countries and Pakistan`s relations with them.

A special session on Mr and Ms Jinnah, and how their marriage shook India, will be by Sheela Reddy (author of `India`) and Jugnu Mohsin (Friday Times). Another session on media and where it is heading will be held by Sohail Warraich, Owais Tohid, Arif Nizami and Mubashir Zaidi.

There will also be discussions on fine arts, travel and history, multiculturalism, and artificial intelligence on both days.

There will be a talks on the genocide on Rohingyas by Azeem Ibrahim (US Army War College) and Omar Waraich (AmnestyInternational), the absence of the religious minorities in mainstream Pakistan by writer Farahnaz Isphahani, lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir, Shehri Pakistan`s Arafat Mazhar and Centre for Social Justice`s Peter Jacob.

One of the organisers Dr Yaqoob Bangash said that there were few opportunities for such intellectual gatherings.

Up to 35 universities will attend the event.

`Universities are where mindset changes and this is our aim,` said Dr Bangash.

On the same weekend, children will have the chance to visit the Children`s Literature Festival (CLF) which will be held at L ahore Fort.

`The idea of holding the festival in such a place is that the fesdval does not only cater to one socio-economic class or culture. The festival should cut across all boundaries,` said Baela Raza Jamil, festival founder.

`The CLF has also always been associated with a heritage strand and about telling stories. The Walled City in this context has hundreds of stories to tell.

The festivities will have interactive performances, storytelling sessions, and cultural activities where Zubeida Mustafa, Rumana Husain, Ameena Saiyid, Adeel Hashmi, Arfa Syeda Zehra, Faisal Bari, Musharraf Ali Faroqui, Basarat Kazim, Ali Hamza and Ali Noor will be present.