MULTAN: The season of festivity is in the air. After PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari came up with Sindh festival to appreciate the Sindhi culture, Seraiki civil society, led by Seraiki nationalist and journalist Zahoor Dhareeja, has come up with a festival to celebrate the Seraiki culture.

The one-day colourful Seraiki festival being organised by the Jhoke Seraiki Sangat will be held on Friday at Multan Arts Council.

Festival organiser Dhareja says the festival is being celebrated to promote the Seraiki culture among the people.

He told Dawn that Seraiki culture and language were amongst the oldest cultures and languages of the world and historians were of the opinion that Seraiki culture reflected the Indus Valley civilisation.

He said crafts of the Seraiki belt, particularly pottery, khusa, chhemba and camel skin articles and ceramics were high in demand in Pakistan and other countries.

He said Chiniot and Jampur were famous for woodwork, Multan for blue pottery, kashikari and khees, Dera Ghazi Khan for chappal, Uch Sharif for chunni, Taunsa for wooden combs, Jhang for laacha and bangles and Muzaffargarh for embroidery.

He said other than crafts the sweet called ‘sohan halwa’ of Multan, Dera Ismail Khan and Khangarh was also famous for its taste.

The festival will host a Seraiki mushaira, performances of Seraiki dance called jhummar, an exhibition of paintings and calligraphy focusing on kalam-i-Farid and bookstalls showcasing Seraiki poetry, culture, art, literature and history.

The main attraction at the celebrations will be a concert likely to be graced by Surraya Multanikar, Attaullah Essa Khelvi, Mansoor Malangi, Rahat Multanikar, Shahzada Asif, Ustad Sajjad Rasool, Azmat Niazi, Ijaz Rahi, Ajmal Sajid, Riaz Saqi, Sajid Multani, Mushtaq Chena, Sobia Malik, Tariq Sabri and Arif Sabri.

Also, the Multan district government announced a five-day Jashan-i-Multan starting from March 19.

District Coordination Officer Zahid Saleem Gondal said a seminar titled ‘Resham Dilan-i-Multan’ would be held on March 22 to highlight the 5000-year old history of the city.

He said the opening ceremony of the festival would he held at the Sports Complex.

The festival includes competitions of the Holy Quran and Naat to be held on March 19 at Multan Arts Council while floral and art and craft exhibitions would be held at the Sports Complex on March 20.

A mushaira would be held on March 21 while a folk night would be held on March 23.A private company will sponsor the festival.