Orakzai Spring Festival 2023 gets underway

KALAYA: The two-day Jashan-e-Baharan Festival kicked off at the scenic tourist resort Kharasha-Khwa Storikhel in Orakzai tribal district on Saturday.

Jointly organised by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Authority (KPCTA), Tourism Wing for Merged Districts and Pakistan Army, the event was inaugurated by Forests Director General Tahir Orakzai. Besides others, Deputy Commissioner Tayab Abdullah, Commandant Orakzai Scouts Colonel Muhammad Tasneem, Project Director Ishtiaq Ahmad and Tourism officials attended the festival.

The organisers said that holding the festival was aimed at introducing the tourism sector as an industry in Orakzai district.

They said tourists had been invited to explore the beauty of the area and experience the traditions and culture of Orakzai district. Stalls were set up to highlight the rich traditions of the area besides pavilions of local cuisines and items representing the traditions of the five provinces.

Speaking on the occasion, Tahir Orakzai said that the event would project a positive image of the area and open new vistas of development for the local people.

He added that Orakzai had abundant tourist attractions that needed to be explored. He also mentioned that KPCTA was doing a tremendous job for promoting the tourism industry and had taken remarkable steps for the facilitation of tourists visiting the Orakzai district.

The visitors, including men and children, enjoyed various events, including Khattak dance, paragliding, motorcycle race, marathon race, jeep race, tent-pegging, karate, horse and camel dances. The KPCTA had also set up stalls of truck art, cultural dresses, antique jewellery, Charsadda khadar, Charsadda Chappal, Karakul caps and paintings. Prizes were distributed among the winners of various games.

It is worth mentioning that over 150,000 tourists had visited various areas of Orakzai during the last Eid holidays.

The KPCTA has also introduced Samana Top, Nanwar Cave, Sampogh Top as tourist destinations while most of the work on installation of camping pods has been completed. Facilitation centers and rest areas have also been established for tourists and signboards have been installed for the information of tourists.