Hundreds of students participated in the 2^nd Folk Dance Festival organised by the Punjab Lok Rahs (PLR).

“It’s time to revive all forms of Punjab folk dances among higher educational institutions,” was the message the organisers hoped to convey to the youth. The organisers also hoped to promote the diversity of Punjabi folk dance heritage. This phase was to celebrate ‘International Mother Language Day’ according to PLR.

The next phase of the festival will showcase folk-dances from the other provinces of Pakistan and include dances such as the Sindhi Jhoomer, Attan and Khatak dance.

These dances were produced in a three-month long series of workshops organised by Punjab Lok Rahs in Lahore, Faisalabad and Sahiwal.

Students from various universities of Punjab along with some school students have been participating in dance workshops. Qasir, Coordinator, Punjab Lok Rahs told Dawn that they had engaged many dance teachers and experts from both classical and folk backgrounds to train students. – Text and photos by Shafiq Butt/Dawn