CHITRAL: The Kalash festival ‘Pul’ was celebrated in Birir valley here on Wednesday, marking the beginning of harvesting season of grapes and walnuts found in abundance in the valley.

that the festivities continued for the whole day and musical concerts were held at different points where boys and girls sang and danced to the tunes of flutes.

He said that the festival was peculiar to the Birir valley since long where local community had banned harvesting of grapes and walnuts before a date fixed for this purpose.

He said that during the ban no person could pluck grapes and walnut even from his own tree and the violator was fined by a watcher appointed by the community and the amount so collected spent on the occasion of festival.

Mr Khan said that this year the festival was more fervently celebrated as the trees bore more fruits than the previous years. Grapes and walnuts are the two major sources of sustenance for the local community in the valley.

He said that the harvesting season was kicked off after the eldest person formally plucked a bunch of grapes from the vine amid drum beats.

No tourist usually participates in the festival and that happened this year as well, he said, adding that the Kalash people from the twin valleys of Bumburate and Rumbur thronged the Birir valley.

The valley is comparatively more backward than the other two, offering very limited facilities of boarding and lodging to the tourists which keeps them away from the valley on this occasion, said Adina Baig, a resident.

He complained that Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not take any step to publicise the festival.

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2014