GILGIT, Aug 23: A grand festival will be held in Gilgit from September 7 to promote local culture and tourism. The Silk Route Festival is a regular feature of the area which is officially celebrated in Gilgit and Skardu.

An official handout said a number of programmes have been chalked out to make the event a memorable one, as it is expected that it will attract a large number of tourists to the region.

The local administration had made several committees to organise the festival in a befitting manner. A meeting in this regard has also been held to review and to finalising the arrangements in the capital of the Northern Areas.

VISIT CANCELLED: Northern Areas Chief Executive Dr Ghazi Ghulab Jamal has cancelled his two-day official visit to Northern Areas, sources said. They said that the chief executive was to reach Gilgit on Monday but information received from the federal capital said that his visit had been cancelled for an indefinite period. -PPI