Festival brings locals in touch with own cultural heritage

Main theme of event is to get masses to appreciate our rich cultural heritage: Organiser.

SWAT:

To revive indigenous cultural heritage, a festival was organised by the Association for Behaviour and Knowledge Transformation (ABKT) in collaboration with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Corporation here on Sunday.

The festival was decorated with stalls of every interest, reflecting cultural glimpses from local cuisine to folk lore and values that was visited by thousands of people from all walks of life.

“It is nice to see these reflections of our culture. . Today I came to know how rich and beautiful our culture is. The folk music has its own charm and attraction. It really has a soothing effect on my mind. Such festivals should be arranged frequently,” said Naveed Ali, a local visitor at the cultural festival.

A number of children were also present. “The colourful stall with mud pots was nicely decorated,” said Rehan, an 8th grader.

Organiser Mohammad Nasim said, “The main theme of the event is to get the masses to appreciate our rich cultural heritage through different activities. We have invited all walks of life and it is nice to see that people are taking interest in every stall.”

Shad Begum, a prominent social activist and Executive Director of ABKT told The Express Tribune, “Though this was an experimental activity, it was a great success. We want to bring people back to their culture and streamline the social wheel to normalcy. The two disasters [floods and militancy] have affected people both socially and psychologically, so such activities will be a real help in reducing their stress levels and fear.”

On the arrangements, she said, “We have a unique partnership with the Tourism Corporation, which has given us freedom to revive our cultural heritage by every means,” adding that, “photo and painting exhibitions, indigenous sports competitions, and craft and food festivals are part of our programs.”

The main attraction for visitors was the music area, where local folk singers performed and received warm applause from the people.

The singers seemed happy and were of the opinion that with such activities their earning once again streamlined.

“Poetry is also used as a tool for peace restoration under our programme.” Shad Begum added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2011.