LAHORE: Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore is set to spend the coming year in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s cultural spotlight, with authorities planning a program of tourism and cultural activities as it takes over the bloc’s chairmanship for 2026–27.
The city was formally designated the SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital for 2026–27 at the organization’s 26th Council of Heads of State meeting in Bishkek on Sept 1, where Pakistan assumed the rotating chairmanship under the theme “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity.”
The designation is part of the SCO’s broader cultural and tourism program. The organization says the initiative is aimed at promoting tourism and people-to-people contacts among member states, while highlighting the cultural heritage of the country holding the rotating presidency.
For Lahore, that means a year of events involving cultural institutions and participants from across the SCO region rather than simply a change in title.
Pakistan’s National Heritage and Culture Division has said it is preparing a year-long calendar of cultural activities in Lahore, including four flagship events and a series of smaller programs.
Embassies and consulates of SCO member states in Pakistan will be invited to participate through cultural performances, exhibitions and cultural troupes.
The cultural capital
The decision was not taken at the Bishkek summit itself.
In April, heads of tourism administrations from SCO member states met in Bishkek and expressed support for Lahore’s candidacy for the 2026–27 title.
The meeting also discussed greater cooperation in tourism, including proposals related to visa liberalization and interaction among tourism agencies from SCO countries.
The SCO Secretariat subsequently recorded Lahore’s designation, with Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev discussing the city’s new status during a July meeting in Islamabad with Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture Aurangzeb Khan Khichi.
According to the SCO, the two sides discussed joint cultural and tourism events as well as wider initiatives aimed at cultural exchange and strengthening mutual understanding among the peoples of member states.
The designation therefore comes with an established SCO framework: previous cities have used the title to organize cultural programs and tourism-related activities involving other member states.
Lahore follows Varanasi in India, Almaty in Kazakhstan, Qingdao in China and Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan, which held the designation in previous years.
What will happen in Lahore?
Pakistan’s plans give a clearer picture of what the designation is expected to involve.
The National Heritage and Culture Division has proposed four flagship cultural events in Lahore, supported by smaller programs throughout the year. SCO member states’ diplomatic missions in Pakistan are expected to be invited to contribute performances, exhibitions and cultural groups.
The program is also expected to extend beyond Lahore.
The ministry has said major cultural activities are being planned in Islamabad and Karachi, while SCO member states have been invited to participate in the Lok Virsa Folk Festival in Islamabad in November 2026.
The festival is expected to provide a platform for handicrafts, folk music, performing arts and traditional cultural displays from SCO countries. Pakistan has also proposed dedicating part of the event to the Shanghai Spirit and regional cultural cooperation.
The SCO secretary-general has suggested additional formats including film festivals, handicraft exhibitions, musical festivals and cultural forums. Pakistan has also been invited to participate in a special SCO cultural exhibition in China scheduled for October 2026.
The program is therefore broader than showcasing Lahore’s existing tourist attractions. It is intended to bring cultural institutions, artists and other participants from SCO countries into activities organized during Pakistan’s chairmanship.
What does Lahore bring to the program?
Lahore’s selection reflects the city’s place in Pakistan’s cultural and historical landscape.
Its heritage includes Mughal-era architecture and monuments, while its cultural identity also encompasses literature, music, traditional crafts, festivals and cuisine.
The city’s historic center, including the Lahore Fort, Badshahi Mosque and Walled City, provides a concentration of architectural and historical sites that can form part of a tourism program.
The National Heritage and Culture Division has itself presented Pakistan’s cultural heritage to the SCO in broader terms, citing the Indus Valley and Gandhara civilizations, Buddhist heritage, Islamic architecture and intangible cultural traditions as areas for greater cooperation.
It has proposed initiatives including an SCO Museum Cooperation Network, an SCO Archaeology Cooperation Program, a digital heritage platform, a youth cultural exchange program and an SCO Heritage Tourism Initiative focused on Gandhara and Silk Road heritage.
Second international tourism designation
The SCO designation is also not Lahore’s only recent international tourism recognition.
In April 2025, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif welcomed Lahore’s selection as ECO Tourism Capital for 2027, describing it as “a city of history, heritage and love.”
“With its magnificent historical heritage, colorful culture and immense potential, Lahore is ready to welcome the world,” she said in a message posted on X.
She said the ECO designation would make Lahore “an attractive center of tourism on the global stage” and thanked ECO member states for selecting the city.
The SCO designation gives Lahore another regional platform, this time within an organization whose members include major countries of South, Central and East Asia.
The 2027 SCO Summit
Lahore’s designation comes as Islamabad prepares to host the SCO’s main summit in 2027.
The Foreign Office has confirmed that the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit will be held in Islamabad during Pakistan’s 2026–27 chairmanship.
“The hallmark of Pakistan’s SCO Chairmanship will be the SCO Council of Heads of State Summit to be hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad in 2027,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said at a briefing on Aug 27.
Pakistan’s SCO agenda
The cultural program also fits within the priorities Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif outlined as Pakistan assumed the chairmanship.
Addressing the SCO summit in Bishkek, PM Sharif said Pakistan’s plan would prioritize IT and artificial intelligence, energy development, poverty reduction, disaster management, health, culture and sports.
He said Pakistan would pursue its chairmanship under the theme “Turning Vision into Action: Connectivity, Innovation and Shared Prosperity,” linking connectivity with closer interaction among the region’s peoples.
Cultural cooperation is already an established area of activity for SCO alongside tourism and other sectors. Its member states have repeatedly endorsed cooperation in culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges, including through the rotating Tourism and Cultural Capital program.
Lahore’s year under the designation will therefore unfold alongside Pakistan’s wider SCO chairmanship, with cultural events in the city forming one part of a much larger program of meetings, forums and sectoral activities.
By the time the chairmanship culminates in the 2027 Council of Heads of State Summit in Islamabad, Lahore’s year as Tourism and Cultural Capital will have provided a parallel track focused specifically on tourism, heritage and cultural exchange.