Three-day Uchal festival to begin in Kalash Valley from Aug 20

PESHAWAR: The foreign and domestic tourists and the local people are waiting for the three-day Uchal festival to be held in Kalash valley in Chitral district from August 20 to 22.

The Uchal festival is one of the cultural festivals celebrated by Kalasha tribe like many other festivals around the year. Before Uchal, the Kalash community also performs Ranat dance in July after harvesting the maize crop.

The Uchal festival continues for many more days moving on to different locations within the valley. However, the mega event of Uchal festival is organised in Bamburet besides Anish, Broon Karakul and other small villages in Kalash valley.

The festival celebrated in annual harvesting with singing, dancing and paying homage to the nature for blessing them with good food and fruits. It is marked in the barley and wheat harvest season every year in August.

The people of Kalasha community prepare cornbread, buttermilk and cheese to celebrate the festival. In the festival, Kalash women and girls decorate their houses and the ceremony is accompanied by dancing and rhythmical chant to the drumbeat.

They wear their traditional black robes, ornate cowries shelled headdresses and adorned with coloured necklaces and dance in a circle. During the festival, prayers and processions are held at a high plateau outside the village in Balangkuru where the long night of dancing begins.