Zainab Nadeem

Hunar Mela was a three day event especially organized for the skilled entrepreneurs, females particularly, by the Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtun Khuwa. The event was conducted to promote handmade materials made by the females who mostly belonged from rural regions of the province. Another reason which led to organize the event was to market the handicrafts and boost the income of the families of these females. The event kicked off at the PIA planetarium in Hayatabad near Ghani Bagh phase-2. The event included stalls, musical night, indelible dances, mouth-watering food and the most attention seeking were the blazing fireworks. There were 50 stalls established to display the work of the females. As the main purpose which led to conduct such an event was to promote the diverse Pakhtun culture and raise the income of the poor families by promoting their work the stalls were mainly manned by the people from rural areas like Mardan, Swat, Swabi, Charsadda, Dir, Kohat etc rather than the people from the main cities. The stalls included handicrafts, embroidery, Bannu royal khadi, stone carving, Peshawari caps, wax painting, wood carving (swat), ring making, chitrali patti, charsadda chapel, pottery work, drooza chapal, moti work, calligraphy and many more impressive artifacts. Other than selling the handicrafts the proficient women were also busy training the visitors with full enthusiasm and commitment which could be helpful in the future. Other than the stalls a mega musical night was arranged to amuse the visitors. Singers like Sara Raza Khan, Humayun Khan, Bakhtiar Khan and Bannu Rehmat struck melodious notes to entertain the people. The songs which were performed were really admired by the people because of their versatility. The songs were sung in Pashto, Hindko and Urdu. Talking of music the concert pavilion presented traditional Khattak, Mehsud, traditional Attanr, Chitrali, Gatka, Attanr Ball and Bangash dances. Dances were performed by different troupes who were accompanied by the visitors who came to see the dance. The most fascinating of all were the folk dances which caught the eye of most of the sight seers. Depicting the culture of KPK, a hujra was set which showed males sitting sipping green tea and telling stories to the younger generation. Hujra is a small room set up in almost every home which separates female guests from male guests as Pakhtuns are really conscious about their privacy. It is also a place where men and children gather so they get to know each other better. The biggest highlight of the event were the fireworks which glazed in the sky for about 10 minutes. It was the most eye catching view. Fireworks were set up mesmerizing the audience and forcing them to leave their houses and join the event The event is aimed at highlighting the skills of artists and providing opportunity of livelihood to the women and families at local level as well as entertaining the people by conducting musical event and spectacular fireworks. The event seemed to be a success and it is hoped that such events are definitely organized in the future aswell.