Kumrat Summer Sports Festival from June 22

PESHAWAR: The Kumrat Summer Sports and Cultural Festival would be held in the scenic valley in Upper Dir from June 22, an official said.

Kumrat is located in the Dir Kohistan and is covered with green pastures, snow-clad mountains.

The valley is accessible via an under construction road and it takes three hours to cover about 80 kilometer distance from Upper Dir. Every summer season thousands of tourists from different areas of the country visit Kumrat valley and enjoy the greenery and cool weather.

Dubbed as ‘Kumrat Festival’, the gala would be held at the lush green plains.

District Sports and Youth Affairs Officer Upper Dir Sahibzada Mukhtiar Hussain said that seven different sports and culture events would be organised during the three days event.

Besides, different cultural events, competitions of various sports disciplines, including cricket, volleyball, tug-of-war, kabaddi, horse race and a popular traditional game ‘Sakhay’ would be organised, the official said. ‘Sakhay’ is a traditional game played with one leg as the other is tied up to the hand. “The Sakhay is really good to watch as it is a unique sport as other games are common all over Pakistan,” Sahibzada Mukhtiar Hussain added. Besides this, other recreational events for children, a music and stand-up comedy show and others would also be part of the festival, he added.

He said the previous year the event attracted a decent number of local and foreigner tourists and hoped that this time the festival was expected to attract more people as compared to last year.