LAHORE: The city of saints and scholars welcomed literary enthusiasts as two-day 5th Multan Literary Festival kicked off on Saturday under the auspices of the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi.

The festival features panel discussions, poetry recitations, musical performances, bookstalls and food stalls, covering topics such as Seraiki poetry, novel writing, art, theatre and film.

The festival was inaugurated by Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi President Ahmed Shah who termed Multan the centre of a thousand-year-old civilization and a progressive city. He said the festival would broaden the minds of the youth in the era of digital media.

Mr Shah also highlighted the achievements of Pakistani art in the last 75 years and the challenges posed by the dictatorship of Gen Ziaul Haq who had halted all cultural societies. He said he wanted the conversation happening in Multan to reach the whole world. He said Lahore was not only the scientific, literary and central city of Pakistan but also of India.

Ahmed Shah termed theatre the mother of art and film an art of mutual cooperation. He added that he had organised a festival in Sukkur in which 200,000 people participated and that there was a need to take these amazing festivals to the youth.

The festival started with a keynote speech by Urdu novelist Mirza Athar Baig who spoke on “Modern Trends in Seraiki Poetry”. He said he was scared of the word ‘speech’ since childhood and that he had very little experience of it. He said it was the era of photography and technology and that ChatGPT was going on in the world of literature.

Other notable speakers and panelists at the festival included Dr Akhtar Ali Syed, Riffat Abbas, Mehboob Tabish, Noorul Huda Shah, Salman Shahid, Hina Shafqat, Jahan Ara, and many others.

The first day has open mic sessions for the singers to entertain the crowd. Bookstalls and food stalls are there at the venue for the people to browse through books and enjoy local delicacies.

The festival will continue on Sunday (today).

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2024