There are a million metaphors that can describe what happened at Karachi Eat this weekend. Heavy rainfall (that was predicted on the weather forecast, to be fair) washed the festival out, leaving it as drenched and bewildered as the incy wincy spider. Primarily, scores of people thronged to the venue, in true Pakistani character paying no heed to warnings – this is, after all, a nation that inexplicably makes a beeline for the coastline every time there’s a cyclone or tsunami warning. But then what started off a pleasant little pitter-patter blew out into angry lashings of rainfall.
Organizers say the festival, rescheduled due to heavy rains in the city,
will be bigger and better next week!
There are a million metaphors that can describe what happened at Karachi Eat this weekend. Heavy rainfall (that was predicted on the weather forecast, to be fair) washed the festival out, leaving it as drenched and bewildered as the incy wincy spider. Primarily, scores of people thronged to the venue, in true Pakistani character paying no heed to warnings – this is, after all, a nation that inexplicably makes a beeline for the coastline every time there’s a cyclone or tsunami warning. But then what started off a pleasant little pitter-patter blew out into angry lashings of rainfall. Our correspondents at the venue report how some stalls were open-air (they obviously don’t take the Met Department seriously at all) while others were barely prepared for the turn of weather. The hot coffee and pakora stalls did good business until it became impossible to be there and ultimately, the organizers advised people to go home. They were shutting shop for the day. We wonder whether people would have left, despite the rain, if they weren’t literally pushed away. Nothing comes between a foodie and his food, we guess.
Anyway, a lot of speculation followed. Had the annual Karachi Eat Festival been washed out and declared a disaster? The first report cancelled Day One with no further notice. The second report cancelled Saturday and announced that the festival would resume on Sunday, adding an additional day – Monday – to the schedule. It wasn’t a bad option, despite the fact that Monday was a working day and it would be tough to get people out of work and into festival mode.
The final decision, however, comes as extremely welcome. Karachi Eat has been pushed a week and will return on Friday, January 20, in full form. Organizers say there have been no cancellations and it will be “bigger and better”. The music performances scheduled for this week will play out as expected and over all, the revamped festival next week will make up for this week. Apologizing for the inconvenience caused, a formal message went out, promising to bring the gourmet galore back for Karachi Eat fans.
All we can say is that we hope the weather supports the festival next week because again, nothing can keep Karachi away from its food obsession. Here’s to gluttony!
