The Chilimjusht spring festival is in progress in Brir, Bumburet, and Rumbur valleys of Kalash, Chitral after it kicked off on Saturday with the Chirpiyek and other ritual performances.
Domestic and foreign tourists have already thronged the valleys to witness the thousands-of-years-old tradition.
The annual festival is celebrated on the arrival of the spring at the end of the long and chilling winters.
Kalash Valley, situated about 45 kilometers away from Chitral town, is a major tourist attraction of the district.
Among other religious and cultural rituals, the event is also marked by the exorcism of houses and the baptism of children where the children and their mothers are sprinkled with milk stored specially for the occasion.
Eligible bachelors select life partners of their choice during the festival which is another main feature of the event.
Community members dance to the tune of traditional music and the beats of drums as they offer thanks to their deity “Goshidai”.
According to the beliefs of the last animistic tribes of Pakistan, Goshidai is responsible for protecting their herds during spring and summer seasons.
Given the onslaught of rapid modernization and dwindling population of the Kalashas, experts fear that the peculiar culture and its traditions might vanish in the coming decades.
Locals lament that domestic tourists arrive with little or no knowledge of the local culture and create hurdles in the performance of various rituals.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA), Tourism Department, and the district administration of Chitral have been urged to educate domestic tourists and ensure curbing the instances of harassment and breach of privacy during the celebrations.
The festival will conclude on Tuesdays, however, the tourists would stay for several days to enjoy the local culture, traditions, and tourist attractions of the area.