Three-day Deosai festival from 27th

E-Paper | May 07, 2026

ISLAMABAD: The government of Gilgit-Baltistan will hold three-day festival at Deosai plains in a bid to promote tourism in the Northern Areas of the country.

For the first time, the festival will be held at Deosai, the second highest altitude plateau of the world after Chang Tang in Tibet. The Deosai National Park is situated 4,114 metres above the sea level. The three-day event will be commenced from August 27.

Take a look: Deosai Plains: Welcome to surreal Pakistan

Traditional polo, horse riding, jeep rally, jeep safari with an addition of a new game Zoh and Joker will be part of the festival. A musical night is also part of the festival in which local and national singers will perform.

Addressing a press conference here at GB House on Wednesday, Asim Ayub a senior official of Gilgit-Baltistan government, and Information Secretary Jehnzeb Awan said that their government was making all out efforts to make the event a success as it was committed to promoting tourism in the area, blessed with rare natural attraction.

“Open air cinema and several kinds of sports will make the event memorable. I hope this festival will play a big role in promoting tourism in the Northern Areas,” Mr Ayub told Dawn.

He said that there would be no security issue, as GB government in collaboration with army made was making adequate arrangements.

GB Director Information Farooq Ahmed said that festival would help in tapping the tourism potential of GB, which was bestowed with unique natural beauty.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2015

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Madhusudan

Aug 20, 2015 01:36pm

Ali zafar is making film there, i suppose.

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Random Passerby

Aug 20, 2015 02:04pm

Jeep rally will destroy the sensitive ecology of Deosai.

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goldconsumer

Aug 20, 2015 02:23pm

Now that you have announced it, please make sure shot security arrangements!

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Syed Muhammad Abubakar

Aug 20, 2015 02:38pm

Deosai National Park is notified by Northern Areas Administration (Government of GB) as National Park under Northern Areas Wildlife Preservation Act, 1975. The area is protected by virtue of law, and therefore any activity, which can harm the threatened biodiversity of the national park, will be illegitimate and unlawful. http://epaper.dawn.com/DetailNews.php?StoryText=17_08_2015_006_001

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Sandhu

Aug 20, 2015 04:06pm

fantastic to read. I am planning to visit this place hope i will see it.

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Nisar

Aug 20, 2015 04:24pm

I invite foreigners to come and see this great part of Pakistan, already there are over 20,000 foreigners in the Northern Areas according to the Tourism Board. As i have said many time, Pak can especially become the no.1 tourist destination for Indian, so please come if you can.

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Awais

Aug 20, 2015 05:26pm

The festival will impact the sensitive ecology of the area. Please do not destroy to land. There are better ways to promote tourism. Sponsor a national geographic expedition or something to study the area etc. And have them telecast on their channel. Or may be try to partner with expedition companies to promote more trekking expeditions to this area.

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U Saifi

Aug 20, 2015 05:34pm

@Nisar it is very difficult for foreigners as our government requires NOC which takes forever to be issued. They prefer going to Nepal or India where no special permits are required. Foreign tourists want to go see nature in such unique places not jeep rallies, music concerts and cinemas.

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U Saifi

Aug 20, 2015 05:35pm

Jeep rallies and cinema - what a shame. They will destroy this beautiful and unique place.

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Akshay Shetty

Aug 20, 2015 06:42pm

@Nisar Thanks mate..I so wish I could.. Hunza valley is on my bucket list... :)

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Hamaad

Aug 20, 2015 07:04pm

Protection of natural environment, flora and fauna must be the top priority. Do not destroy the delicate balance with lust of consumerism.

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N.Sid

Aug 20, 2015 07:14pm

The place is as eerie, surreal and stunning as the name 'Deosai'. Should be left to explorers, nature lovers, adventurist to visit this place and not for hundreds of thousands of tourists. This place will lose its fragile eco-system and environment.

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Wasif Malik

Aug 20, 2015 08:03pm

I fully endorse N Sid views. Deosai is a sacred place. It needs protection and not commercial exploitation.

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Mariam

Aug 20, 2015 08:32pm

Jeep rally? Horse riding? This is insane. I was in deosai last week and was told by the guide that these very horse riders are pushing the wild habitats of the brown bears farther away , scaring them of the humans showing off their "riding skills" 13,000 feet above sea level. Please , for a change, make some sane decisions to promote tourism in this country. This is outrightly cruel. Please keep these commercial ventures away from Deosai National Park.

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Asad Zaidi

Aug 20, 2015 09:15pm

The picture above is from one of the photo article by Syed M. Bukhari. I loved his articles and still go back and read them (and admire the pictures) again and again. But at the same time I also opposed of too much exposure of the naturel beauty of the land without proper public awareness on preservation and proper efforts by the government in this regard. The media is equally responsible to educate the public on preservation and protection of natural land, its flora and fauna. Now there will be no natural environment left and definitely no beauty left in the area after the festival is over. I would like to see another photo shoot of the area after the festival is over.

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N.Sid

Aug 20, 2015 09:46pm

@Wasif Malik Thanks for endorsing my views. Deosai is famous for brown bear habitation and some other rare variety of fauna and flora. Any widespread invasion of tourists and this jeep rally kind of activity will destroy the wild habitat of the already endangered species. Hope G&B authority will not allow any kind of jeep rally and help protect the Deosai as a national park and a natural treasure house for natural lovers and explorers.

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Juliana Fitzwater

Aug 21, 2015 01:23am

How to get there? Details?

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EuroStar77

Aug 21, 2015 05:18am

GB must get state-status and representation in parliment.

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