Pakistan Mountain Festival: Artists from mountains enthral audience from the twin cities

Young artists from G-B, Kashmir and K-P perform in regional languages.

ISLAMABAD:

Residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were treated to some cultural renditions by singers from the mountainous areas of the country on Tuesday night. 

Artists from Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) took to the stage at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) auditorium in traditional Chitrali hats and achkan and sang time-honoured melodies, as a slideshow of images in the backdrop transported the audience to the mountainous regions.

Daulat Wali Baig group enthralled the audience with Shah Mubarkbaad, a Walkhi folk tune sung at the start of celebratory events, as the sounds of dumbek, flute, dhol and acoustic guitar lifted the audiences’ spirits.

The different regions nestled around Pakistan’s glorious mountain range each lend a distinct traditional flavour, as was evident in the ebb of the sweet melodies in Sheena, Broshusky, Wakhi, Balti, Pahari and Khawar performed by young artists including Manzoor Balti, Amir Baig, Rahbar Khan, Khan Abdul Rehman and Manzoor Ali.



Despite the circulation of over 600 invites, the hall was scarcely populated with students and collaborating organisations to the disappointment of its organisers, the Development Communications Network (DEVCOM).

The Mountain Music Night was part of the three-day youth festival on environmental advocacy, held to observe International Mountain Day.



Artists sing folk songs. PHOTO: MYRA IQBAL/EXPRESS

Munir Ahmed, director of DEVCOM lamented, “Cold weather across the world is an excuse for people to gather and listen to music.”

But the young and old alike in the audience make up for the empty seats by joining in the musicians on stage, lifting the spirits of the performers and enriching the cultural experience.

The artists were organised under the aegis of the Gojal Education and Cultural Centre.

Earlier in the day, students from various universities including National University of Science and Technology (NUST), K-P Agricultural University, NARC University and Karakoram University participated in a hike up Islamabad’s Trail-3.

According to Ahmed, the activity stressed on the importance of mountains and highlighted the constraints and opportunities in their development.

The festival also included a seminar on the importance of forests and mountains to human life and evoked the need for sustainable solutions to environmental concerns in order to preserve the abundance of natural beauty in Pakistan.

This is the second such festival held by DEVCOM, which hopes that it will gain support and patronage from stakeholders for environmental advocacy.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2012.