PESHAWAR: After two years, the annual Shandur polo festival will be held on its old schedule from July 7, an official of the Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa confirmed here on Saturday.

“The festival will be organised from July 7 to 9, as for a couple of years the annual three-day event could not be held from July 7 as due to floods and Ramazan it had been organised from July 29 for two years,” said the official.

The TCKP, he said, had started a process to put in place the arrangements and float advertisements to attract tourists from across the world. In that regard, officials from the Gilgit-Baltistan government are likely to be invited to Peshawar to make the arrangements in order to facilitate the spectators.

The poor condition of roads leading to the venue at Shandur located in Chitral is the major obstacle for tourists in reaching the area. Despite repeated announcements and the federal government’s decision to include Gilgit-Shandur-Chitral Road in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, work on the road is yet to be started.

Shandur top also acts as a bridge between the two opponent teams of polo — Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan.

The Shandur annual festival brings a great sense of contentment among the people of these districts. The festival is often embellished with cultural orientations of both the teams that include their cultural dances, paragliding and folk music.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2018