ISLAMABAD - Lok Virsa (National Institute of Folk & Traditional Heritage), Ministry of National Heritage & Integration, Government of Pakistan, has announced to hold its annual folk festival, popularly known as “Lok Mela” from April 12 to 21, 2013 at its complex situated here at Garden Avenue, Shakarparian.
Talking to this scribe, Lok Virsa’s Executive Director Khalid Javaid informed that the festival will open formally on Friday, 12 April at 1600 hours with a prestigious inaugural ceremony to be graced by Shahzada Jamal Nazir, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, National Harmony, National Regulation & Services, National Heritage & Integration.
“Started in the year 1982, this unique event has become a symbol of the federation’s recognition of and patronage to our rich cultural diversity and active participation of the people of Pakistan, he added.
The festival would features artisans-at-work exhibition, provincial cultural pavilions, folkloric song & dance ensembles, rural musicians, public organisations and NGOs, general assembly of craftspeople, traditional cuisine, exotic craft bazaar, inaugural & award ceremonies and many other attractions.
Explaining objectives of the event ED, Lok Virsa apprised that the main thrust of the 10-day festival is the focus on provincial harmony and national integration, highlighting the contribution of our people in building future Pakistan.
More than 500 artisans and artists from all parts of the country will come to the festival, bringing with them their creativity in arts, crafts and innovation.
With central focus on rural Pakistan, the direct beneficiaries of the festival are master artisans, musicians and other performers from the rural areas and remote regions of Pakistan.
The festival would serve to disseminate the dynamic creativity of our countryside and to give rural folk a pride in their identity, he maintained.
Provincial pavilions have always been a major attraction of the festival at Islamabad.
This year too, all the provinces will participate in Lok Mela-2013 by sending their contingents of craftspeople, folk artists, musicians, performers and folk dance groups.
Lok Virsa will allocate space to each province for erection of “provincial pavilions” at the festival grounds depicting their culture, arts, crafts, rituals and indigenous traditions.
The festival will continue till Sunday, 21 April 2013 daily from 11.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m.