Winter festival of Kalash community concludes

CHITRAL: Chawmoss, the colourful annual winter festival of Kalash community, concluded in Bamburet on Friday. The 14-day festival was celebrated in the three Kalash valleys Bamburet, Berir and Rambur amid great funfair.

The closing ceremony of the festival was held in Bamburet where the Kalash community members sang and danced to their folk tunes to welcome the new year calendar.Attired in colorful dresses, a large number of the members of the community gathered at Bron locality in Bamburet to celebrate the event. A large number of foreign and local tourists thronged the valley to witness the unique festival of the community

The Kalash people exchanged fruit, vegetables, flowers and dry fruits and reiterated the pledge to forge love, peace, friendship, and fraternity among themselves.The children cleaned the holy place of Kalash with pine twigs before holding the annual great bonfire.

Children, considered a sign of continuity of life, dressed in colourful dresses darted about the village receiving gifts of fresh fruits.

The Kalash men and women sang songs and performed folk dance to the beat of drums as part of their religious customs.Both the foreign and local tourists said that they enjoyed the unique festival of the community.

The Kalash elders lauded the district administration for making strict security arrangements for the event.Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Imran Khan said that the district administration had taken all possible measures to hold the festival in a peaceful manner.