Defence Day commemoration: Day-long festival ends with an electrifying concert

Though the rain delayed the event, there was plenty of entertainment.

ISLAMABAD:

The rainy weather did not deter nearly 2,000 people from coming to Bahria Enclave on Thursday to enjoy an electrifying live performance by Strings and Ali Azmat.

The concert was part of the “Tameer-e-Millat Festival” held by Bahria Town to commemorate Defence Day.

After an excruciatingly long sound check, Strings finally got the crowd roaring with their socially-aware “Mein Tou Dekhoonga” and the cricket-themed “Hai Koye Hum Jaisa”. The band was followed by Ali Azmat, who drew loud cheers from the audience as he appeared onstage and performed songs from his Junoon days as well as latest tracks from a Bollywood movie to a thunderous applause.

Some people were annoyed with the arrangements, even though Faisal Kapadia of Strings apologised for the delay caused by the rain which also drenched some of the musical equipment.

“They took too long to come onstage,” said Balukh Sher, a management trainee officer at the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority who was there with his friends. “There are no chairs, which makes it even more uncomfortable.”

Besides the concert, the festival featured various other fun activities. Though the rain delayed the scheduled start time by nearly two hours, there was plenty of entertainment once Bahria Town’s Vice Chief Executive Commodore (retd) Mohammad Ilyas formally opened the event by raising the Pakistani flag.

Flying hobbyists also displayed an air show with remote-controlled model planes and helicopters that whizzed around against a cloudy sky and set the stage for more to come.

One of the highlights of the day-long festival was a flash mob --- composed of 25 dancers, mostly students --- that took everyone with surprise.

Though the rain put a bit of a damper on the turnover, those present could be seen enjoying the overcast conditions. Children seemed to be having the most fun, thanks to the performers --- a clown and costumed characters.

“The cool weather has made it much better,” said Mrs Raza, as her six-year-old daughter, Hiba, got her face painted at one of the stalls.

Another six-year-old, Haider Sultan, and his two younger brothers were trying to get their parents to stay late for the concert. Haider said he enjoyed dancing with the Mickey Mouse character the most.

“It’s not a holiday, but we thought it would be a good outing for the kids and we wanted to visit Bahria Enclave to see how the development work was coming along,” said Haider’s father, Tipu Sultan. The event had been specially organised for people who had bought plots in the Bahria Enclave, but the management also allowed families and couples to attend the festival.

The crowd started building up during the evening, and the anticipation was at its peak when Strings appeared to start the concert at around 9:30pm. The festival ended with a display of fireworks and flying lanterns.

According to Bahria Town’s marketing executive Tehmas Khan, the festival also marked the first phase of handing over the possession of plots in Bahria Enclave to their owners.

Security was provided by Bahria Town and the capital police. Two private ambulances were also stationed near the entrance to deal with any emergency. The event, however, ended without any untoward incidents, said organiser Nayyar Abbas.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2012.