KARACHI: The second edition of the World Culture Festival is set to begin on Friday (today) at the Arts Council of Pakistan and conclude on Dec 7.

Speaking at a press conference Karachi Commissioner Syed Hassan Naqvi said they’d been preparing for the event for quite some time, working in close coordination with the council’s President Ahmed Shah.

“We had clear instructions from the provincial government and chief secretary that we should turn this into a successful event and create a soft image of our city and province. For that purpose, a number of meetings were held,” he said.

“Our endeavour is to provide as much comfort as possible to our foreign guests, and give them a warm welcome right from their arrival at the airport. Even if we don’t declare them state guests, their protocol should not be less than that of state guests,” the commissioner said, adding that an elaborate security plan had been made with the help of Sindh police.

Mr Naqvi said in order to counter the dengue scare instructions have been given for a special spray (fumigation). “Since the event will last for 39 days, we will try to establish a health desk at the council.”

He added the Sindh government is an active, if not equal, partner of the festival.

Mr Shah informed journalists that artists from countries such as Sweden, the US, Argentina and Congo have already arrived. He requested the dancers from Congo to come up on stage and perform for a couple of minutes. They did. It was a nice gesture.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2025