Gobor festival ends: Event aims to highlight fading cultures

CHITRAL: The three-day Gobor Festival which started on September 13, concluded on Monday in Garam Chashma, Gabor Valley. The festival aimed to highlight problems faced by locals, said Muhammad Hussain, the festival committee chairman. Infrastructure in the area is dilapidated and does not garner enough attention, he said. The festival featured traditional games and sports such as Buzkashi, polo, tug of war, cricket, football and paragliding. Buzkashi is played like polo except with a headless goat carcass instead of a ball. Shows based on cultural themes were also a part of the festival’s programme. The organisers of the festival said the aim of the event was to promote the culture of those whose native language is Yidgha, which is fast becoming extinct. The people of this culture have been living in the region for two centuries and are of Central Asian origin. Shahzada Amanur Rehman, a member of a former royal family, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. He distributed awards among the winning teams.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2014.