MINGORA: The music concert, local dress and fashion show and different sports activities attracted a large number of people during Swat Youth and Cultural Festival 2018.

The local people, who showed excellent performances in various fields, were given awards and cash prizes during the festival that concluded here on Saturday evening.

The event was organised by district government in collaboration with district administration and Rangoona, a local youth organisation. Local elders, civil society members, cultural activists, officials from the district administration, local government representatives, writers and a large number of youth attended the event.

Organisers say event will be held every year

The participants were kept spellbound by folk music, local dress and fashion show and sports activities. Pashto singers Bakhtiar Khattak, Khalid Malak, Laila Khan, Soni Khan, Sadia Shah, Hamauyn Angar and others received applause from the audience.

District nazim Mohmmad Ali Shah said on the occasion that Swat had rich cultural heritage where different ancient civilisations were nurtured.

“People of the valley enjoyed peace and tranquility during the former Swat state era where the former rulers not only imposed Sharia law but also allowed everyone to practice their cultural activities and enjoy music.

He said that the former rulers even established a town for musicians and dancers.

He added that unfortunately the valley saw an ugly phase of its history when extremists challenged the writ of the government and innocent people suffered a lot.

The organisers said that the event was aimed at providing recreational opportunity to the conflict-affected people of the district.

“Through this colourful event we want to involve people in cultural and traditional activities. We want to bring the smiles back on the faces of people of Swat. We will try to organise the event every year,” said Naseem Akhtar, the culture department chairperson and one of the organisers of the event.

Girl taekwondo players belonging to Swat demonstrated skills while comedian performed skits.

The participants said that the folk songs and the cultural dress show along with the comedy presentations refreshed them after a long time.

“Such cultural events must be organised regularly in Swat as we have seen harsh and hard times during the last few years. Such events help to normalise lives,” said Majid Khan, a university student.

Cash prizes and awards were distributed among writers, poets, journalists, cultural and social activists, singers, artists, painters, calligraphers, sportsmen and other people from Swat who showed excellent performance in their respective fields.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2018