Swat peace festival: Fireworks and music amid tight security

MINGORA:

There was tight security. There were stalls. There were fireworks and there were smiles. A large number of people including women and children from across the region attended the first day of Swat Peace Festival — the festival that aims to restore people’s confidence and revive tourism in the flood-affected region.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Governor Masood Kausar inaugurated the festival at Grassy Ground on Saturday. It started with a car rally from Khairabad to Saidu Sharif.

The visitors enjoyed fireworks followed by a musical night in which famed singer Rahim Shah, Zek Afridi and others entertained the audience. Shah gave his CDs to the audience and received a huge round of applause.

Locals welcomed the festival and hoped steps would be taken to rehabilitate infrastructure, particularly the road to Kalam.

“The infrastructure has been damaged a lot at the hands of the floods and most tourist spots are currently cut off from rest of the country,” said Inayatullah, a school teacher.

The festival will have about 15 sporting events, four of which are exclusively for women. Seven regions of K-P and five districts of Malakand division are participating. The two mega-events are a polo tournament at Kabal ground, the first of its kind in Swat’s history, and a 9-hole golf tournament at the recently renovated Kabal Golf Club.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2011.