Colorful ‘Christmas Mela’ held at Lok Virsa

ISLAMABAD, Dec 22 (APP):A colorful ‘Christmas Mela’ was held here at National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) on Friday.
The mela was organized by Lok Virsa in collaboration with Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), Pur Fazal Kaleiseya Pakistan (Full of Grace Church) and St. Thomas Church here at Garden Avenue, Shakarparian.
The special features included erection of Christmas Tree, distribution of sweets by Santa Claus, an artisans at work exhibition, live folk musical and folk dance performances.
A prestigious ribbon cutting, cake cutting and opening ceremony was held in the beautiful surroundings of the Heritage Museum, which was graced by Dr Fouzia Saeed, Executive Director, Lok Virsa along with senior members of Lok Virsa Board of Governors namely Farooq Qaiser and Taqi Akhundzada.
The ceremony presented live national songs “Sohni Dharti Allah Rakhe” and “Millat Ka Pasban Muhammad Ali Jinnah” by students of IMCG, G-10/4, IMCG F-7/2 & IMCG G-6/1-3. Two Christmas songs each were presented by the church choir of St. Thomas and Pur Fazal Kaleiseya Pakistan churches. Young artists presented popular Pashto, Balochi and Sindh folk songs. Lok Virsa folk dance group presented famous Punjabi dance “Bhangra” on the occasion.
In her address, Dr Fouzia Saeed, Executive Director, Lok Virsa said “Lok Virsa, as a policy, projects the cultural traditions of all communities including Christian community and provide them an opportunity to elaborate the same at the national level. The spirit behind it is to promote and strengthen national harmony and integration among the entire nation through a cultural perspective. The today’s Christmas Mela was also a step forward in this direction”.
In his speech, Pastor Pervez Sohail, founding Chairman, Pur Fazal Kalieseya Pakistan (Full of Grace Church) thanked Lok Virsa for taking part in the celebrations of Christian community by organizing a beautiful show on the eve of Christmas. He also appreciated the role of the present government in creating unity and solidarity in the nation.
Around one thousand people including Christian community members, youth, students and children attended the celebrations and commended the efforts of Lok Virsa in projecting and promoting the cultural heritage of Pakistan in such a beautiful and effective manner.