LAHORE: The three-day Faiz International Festival will kick off at the Alhamra Art Centre, The Mall, on Friday (today).

The festival being organised by the Faiz Foundation Trust (FFT) in collaboration with the Lahore Arts Council will bring together a bouquet of performances, panel discussions, music, dance, a visual art exhibition and a lot more.

On the inaugural day there will be a grand opening ceremony and also the opening of a visual art exhibition. Ajoka will stage its popular play ‘Kala Menda Bhais’ and there will be a panel discussion titled ‘Kaifi and Faiz’ featuring Shabana Azmi, Saleema Hashmi, Adeel Hashmi and Mira Hashmi.

There will also be a musical evening titled ‘Yaad ki Rahguzar’ in which Tahira Syed will sing.

On Saturday, the Lahore Grammar School will present a dance performance. The sessions will include a panel discussion titled ‘My Side of the Story’. Samina Pirzada, Sania Saeed, Samiya Mumtaz, Saba Qamar, Imran Abbas and Simi Raheal will be on the panel.

An interesting discussion will be held between Sohail Ahmed and Vasay Chaudhry under the title ‘Maazi Say Bay Haal Tak’. An evening titled ‘Zia Moheyddin Kay Sath Aik Shaam, Mushtaq Ahmed Yusafi kay Naam’ is likely to be a major attraction at the festival. ‘Meet Uncle Sagam, A Conversation with Farooq Qaiser’ will be another attraction, as will be a master class on screen writing with Javed Akhtar and Adeel Hashmi.

A panel discussion on ‘Politics in Journalism’ will also be held on Saturday. Mohammad Ziauddin, Marvi Sarmad, Wusutullah Khan and Hamid Mir will discuss various issues revolving around the theme.

The last day (Sunday) will also offer a variety of discussions and performances including ‘Drama Now, Who Wears the Crown’ with Sultana Siddique, Kashif Nisar, Amina Mufti, Asghar Nadeem Syed and Tauseeq Haider as panellists.

There will also be outdoor performances – a theatre play ‘Multan Sheher Di War’ and ‘Alhamra Unplugged’. Besides, there will be a flute recital by Akmal Qadri. A session will be held to remember the late Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar.

Meanwhile, the celebrated duo from India Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar reached Lahore through the Wagah Border on Thursday to attend the Faiz International Festival.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2018