10-day Lok Mela starts today

Cultural festival to feature provincial pavilions, artisans at work, folk songs and dance

ISLAMABAD: The 10-day festival of celebrating cultural diversity of Pakistan will open today, said the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) on Thursday.

According to the organisers, the mega event known as Lok Mela will commence from November 15 and end on November 24  at Lok Virsa Complex, Garden Avenue, Shakarparian, Islamabad.

The main features include provincial cultural pavilions, artisans at work, folk songs and dance performances, exotic craft bazaar, cultural nights, folkloric performances and many other activities.

As per tradition exists for the last four decades, the festival will formally open with a chadarposhi and dastarbandi or the ceremony of presenting a chador and tying the turband, which is a way of proclaiming Lok Virsa’s commitment to the high stature that craftspeople and folk artists have in the cultural mainstream of the nation. This year, one established master craftswoman and one male folk artist and musician will be honoured with chaddarposhi and dastarbandi by Minister for National History and Literary Heritage Shafqat Mahmood on November 19.

Culture departments of all provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir have been invited to set up pavilions presenting their indigenous folk culture, artisans, folk artists and traditional cuisine as link nodes of the festival’s foundation grid. Special attractions featuring folk singers, folk entertainers and other entertaining shows will be organised throughout the festival period.

Display of traditional folk dances from all over Pakistan will be held in open air at intervals. Folk entertainers and rural musicians are invited from all over the country to participate in the festival.

An exotic craft bazaar with score of tastefully decorated pavilions offering a variety of knick-knacks, antiques, craft items and cultural materials will also be set up. 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2019.