Residents of twin cities can get ‘taste’ of Europe today

Experience EU without visa hassles at one-day carnival and concert

ISLAMABAD: Residents of twin cities will get a rare opportunity to experience the sights, sounds, smells and taste of European culture and traditions at a colourful event being organised by the European Union states on Saturday (today).

Around 15 countries of EU will join up to showcase their culture at stalls in the “Eurovillage” at the Lok Virsa Heritage Museum.

Being held for the first time, the festival would be led EU’s envoy to Pakistan Jean-Francois Cautain, the diplomat said at a briefing on the event on Friday.



Flanked by ambassadors of European countries, including some who are participating in Saturday’s event, the envoys said that the festival was being held to mark Europe Day in a unique manner.

Instead of organising the annual event at a closed venue, member states had decided to share the occasion with Pakistanis of different strata.

“We decided to do something different this time and present the diversity of Europe to the Pakistani public,” remarked one of the diplomats.

Hence the idea of setting up a ‘Eurovillage’ at the Lok Virsa was born to increase awareness about Europe along with European culture and values.

Besides promoting culture, the Eurovillage will showcase a carnival where stalls will display and sell food from EU countries. There will also be a host of activity - for adults and children - including quizzes and giant cut-outs of famous European landmarks.

Moreover, representatives of participating countries will inform visitors about the relationship between Europe and Pakistan and hand out information about member states.

“It will be an opportunity for the families to come and get a taste of EU [literally],” said one of the envoys.

The carnival will be followed by a vibrant musical concert at the Lok Virsa’s open air theatre where two European bands, “Live Strings” and “Wild ManGoes” and the Pakistani artist Quratulain Balouch (QB) will perform live later in the evening.



“There is an old saying, ‘if you want others to respect your mother, you should respect their mother first’. Same goes with culture”, remarked Dr Fauzia Saeed, the executive director Lok Virsa.

She added that it was time Pakistanis opened up their hearts and minds while respecting and enjoying other cultures.

“This is how we can promote diversity of our culture and enjoy the diversity of the other world,” she added.

Traffic arrangements

Anticipating a large crowd, visitors can enter Lok Virsa from Gate no 1 from the Islamabad Express Highway and exit from the Pakistan-China Centre onto the Kashmir Highway. In this regard, traffic will flow one way on these tracks, just like during the Lok Mela, Lok Virsa’s administration said.

Stringent security measures have been taken for the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2017.