Village offers window to Europe

Second Europe Village draws large crowd

ISLAMABAD: Europe on Saturday opened its doors for Pakistanis, allowing locals to get a taste of what the large bloc of continental countries look, taste and sound like — all at the cost of a trip to the grounds of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).

For a second year running, the European Union (EU) diplomatic office in Islamabad and missions of European countries came together to hold the Europe Village and mark Europe Day.

The ‘Eurovillage' was set up at the PNCA and featured from a host of European nations including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and France. Even with Brexit looming, England also pitched a tent.



The stalls, apart from featuring literature about the sights, sounds and culture of each European country, also featured food stalls — for what better way to acquaint one with the culture of another country than through the universal language of gastronomy, key especially when one has to navigate the 24 official languages of the region.

The premises of PNCA were transformed into a genuine European carnival.

There were information and activity booths for adults and children including quizzes, selfie walls and giant cut outs of famous landmarks in Europe.

Famous Swedish illusionist Charlie Caper also enthralled the audience with his performance.

With the festival marking the 68th Europe Day – the day when Europe united — another trend was bucked. Instead of cutting a ceremonial cake, the ceremony saw balloons being released as a symbol of Pakistan-EU friendship.



EU Ambassador to Pakistan Jean-François Cautain stated that the Eurovillage had been held “to remind everyone of the EU’s cultural richness while also underlining our unity”.

“The European Union is, and will continue to be a strong, cooperative and reliable partner to Pakistan,” Cautain added.

“We stand for multilateralism, for human rights, and for international cooperation. We work at home and abroad to promote sustainable development, inclusive societies, and the fight against inequality of any type.”



In a week that saw one of the world’s longest running enmities end in the Korean peninsula, the social media-viral German Ambassador Martin Kobler pointed towards an older example of warring countries coming together in peace.

“Archenemies became partners, the peoples of Europe became friends. We are diverse, speak different languages, yet we are united in peace today. That is our message to the world,” he declared proudly.

The evening ended with live performances from the Austrian band Lohninger and Fischbacher Duo, local and European collaborative band Wild ManGoes, Hun Solo and the popular singer Zeb Bangash.

Bangash brought the crowd to its feet with a rendition of the popular Pashto song ‘Dilruba narazi’.

Salman, a visitor said that the carnival offered a unique adventure.

“I saw 22 European countries for free without any visa,” he beamed as he went off snapping pictures of the stalls and selfie with foreign diplomats.

Saima Karim said that she had taken her grandmother to the event and found her to be besieged by enamored diplomats.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2018.