Striking similarities: Margalla festival — an extension of Lok Mela

Organiser insists festival provides platform for new talent unlike other event.

ISLAMABAD: The four-day Margalla Festival at the Arts and Crafts Village in Shakarparian concluded on Sunday.

The event was organised by Capital Development Authority (CDA) to mark the start of spring but appeared to be a mere extension of the 10-day Lok Mela that ended earlier this week, with the majority of stalls and performers being the same.

Abdul Rahman, a performer from Cholistan, said he has been collectively paid an amount of Rs7,000 to Rs8,000 by the CDA for both the events.

Director-General Sports and Cultural Activities Asif Shahjahan told The Express Tribune that although the theme and nature of the festival was similar to that of Lok Mela, they were running the event on a different mandate.



“In contrast to Lok Mela, our focus is to provide a platform to explore fresh talent”, he said.

“Our is an open event where we can include pretty much anything that has some recreational value to it but Lok Mela is strictly confined to folk culture-related activities”, he added. He said they had a better turnout in comparison to Lok Mela because of the free tickets and bigger space to accommodate visitors.

Shahjahan further said CDA had allocated a budget of Rs0.5 million for the event, which included travelling and accommodation for the artists and performers.

Despite the organiser’s firm belief, visitors hardly found much difference in the two festivals.

Ahmed Zohaib, a visitor, said he is here only because he could not visit the Lok Mela as the place was overcrowded. “I have come with my family because the crowd is relatively better here”, he added.

Another resident Sajid Haider was upset as he had already been to Lok Mela and was not aware that the Margalla Festival would showcase similar crafts.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2015.