Kalash valleys: Winter festival concludes

CHITRAL, Feb 27: The winter festival of Kalash people ended in Bumburate valley after eight days on Friday. The main event of the informal festival was the freestyle snow hockey in which 12 teams from the three Kalash valleys participated. The event was for the first time sponsored by Sarhad Rural Support Program (SRSP). The team of Brun village of Bumburate turned triumphant in the final match. Regarding the interesting features of the game, the district program manager of SRSP, Tariq Ahmed said the play field was as long as three kilometers while each team consisted of 24 players. He said each team strikes the hand woven clothed ball with stick in the same directed and the team which reaches the end point of the field first, gets a score against the opponent team. He said that the winning team gets a hefty bull from the losing team and this time the bull was provided by his organization on behalf of the losing team. Braving the chilly winter winds, a large number of Kalash people including women and children thronged the venue to watch the final event.–Zahiruddin]]>