CHITRAL, June 21: The three-day Shandur polo festival scheduled to start from July 2 has been postponed till August.

Official sources said that the reason behind postponement of the festival was the deteriorating condition of the road in Gilgit-Baltistan leading to Shandur. They said that the extended rainfall in the area had damaged the road and that could have affected the participation of GB people in the festival.

The hotly-contested polo matches between the teams of Chitral and GB at the highest polo ground of the world was the main event of the festival during which the passions run high as the matches virtually turned into a sort of battle.

The festival is being held regularly for the last three decades on fixed dates from July 7 to 9, but this year the event has been rescheduled. The festival is usually being organised by the district administration, Chitral.

Meanwhile, local people said that early August would the most appropriate time for holding the festival as after that tourists would not come due to cold weather.