PESHAWAR: As one passes through many bazaars, all interconnected, leading up to Tehsil Gor Khatri, an archaeological complex on a high mound in historic Peshawar city, one is reminded at many spots where terrorism took many precious lives.

However, the crowd of women, men and children, who showed up at Craft Festival of Gor Khatri Project, was not only overwhelming but it also manifested that people of Peshawar were resilient.

At the closing ceremony on Sunday, the green lawns of Gor Khatri were full of people, most of them belonging to Peshawar city.

Women were visiting the stalls at the festival, organised by Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) in an effort to entertain the public and also make them aware of the dying arts and crafts of the province.

The TCKP has held events like Huner Mela and Huner-i-Hawwa in 2011.

The arts and crafts, including some for which Peshawar city was well known once, are slowly dying because of the insecurity and lack of promotional activities as well as efforts to preserve the same.

“People don’t know the value of antiques. They also can’t buy it,” said Abdul Waheed, a resident of Peshawar, who also runs a small shop.

He said that since foreigners didn’t come to Peshawar anymore so antiques shops had closed down in the city.

Zahid, another young man at another stall, displaying wooden toys and artifacts, said that it was his family craft. “Now people like machine-made things and handicrafts are dying slowly,” he said. He added that people like him still waited for such customers, who could afford to buy it.

“Neither we have resources to send it abroad nor the government has registered us to promote our work,” said Zahid who felt that only residents of Peshawar city were visiting the festival and no one bought the wooden things.

“Our handicrafts should be exhibited in other cities and countries to attract buyers,” he said.

The festival not only included stalls of handicrafts, embroidered clothes and boutiques, it had also some stalls of the local cuisines. Traditional Khattak and Mehsud dances also entertained the people at the festival. A live music show kept people stuck to the ground till late.

Abid, a child mechanic, who was enjoying the music with his friend, said that he worked for hours and it was fun to listen to music.

“I have never been to a festival before. I am so much enjoying my time off work,” said another child, who works for 13-hours without any break as an assistant of a tailor.

While children listened to the music and enjoyed camel-ride and air-balloons, women of all ages mostly clad in black-burqas enjoyed shopping as well as music.

“I shopped my heart out at the stalls which sell a variety of goods, from white chuddar to shawls to metals miniature, to breathtaking jewellery,” said Ayesha, a visitor who lives in Peshawar city but never attended such a festival before.

A greater attraction of the venue was the two antique fire engines on display. Surprisingly, at one engine an elderly helper of Gor Khatri was on the watch so that visitors don’t damage the historic engine but at on the adjacent engine children were sitting as if they were taking a joy-ride while their parents were taking their pictures.

These engines were manufactured by Merry-weather London in 1919 and 1921 respectively. The fire engines are among the oldest surviving ones in the world but how the children were mishandling these was appalling.