Community Corner
Festival Will Celebrate Pakistan Independence
Thousands expected to attend the free, all-day festival at Bull Run Regional Park.
Thousand of area Pakistani families and their friends will congregate next month in Centreville to celebrate Pakistan Independence Day, reconnect with acquaintances and recognize their own rich cultural heritage.
The 25th Annual Pakistan Independence Day Festival, on Sept. 4 at , provides local Pakistanis a window to the country that they may not be able to revisit or may never have known, said Zahid Hameedi, an Alexandria entrepreneur and festival founder.
“There were many elements to creating the festival, but one thing was about culture, it was a reminder of where we came from,” Hameedi said. “People who came here from Pakistan love the U.S. but they want to keep their culture. Sometime children here lose touch with the culture from back home.”
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Pakistan's Independence Day is observed on Aug. 14, a national holiday in that country. Pakistan was made an independent country with the withdrawal of the British from India in 1947. The festival is not set this year for Aug. 14 because the date falls in the middle of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting. Muslims would not be able to fully enjoy the festival because they are prohibited from eating or drinking during the day while observing Ramadan, Hameedi said.
The celebration, which is free, features performances by popular artists from Pakistan, ethnic Pakistani food, handicrafts, boutiques, sports, kite flying and children entertainment. There will be a single/double-wicket cricket tournament in the morning—the national sport of Pakistan is field hockey, although cricket is the country’s most popular game.
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The festival will also make a special award to Zia Mohyeddin, a Pakistani actor famed for his voice. Mohyeddin made his film debut in Lawrence of Arabia in 1963, playing the role of Tafas (the Arab guide who is shot by Omar Sharif for drinking water from the wrong well).
Mostly, the celebration is about family, Hameedi said. Three generations of local families are now coming to the festival, Hameedi said.
“A woman called me up recently and told me that she used to come to the festival when she was 11,” Hameedi said. “She said that she used to come with her parents and now she goes to the festival with her children.”
When: Sun, Sept. 4, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Where: Bull Run Regional Park
