National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) has arranged around hundred cultural events throughout the year 2020 to show the rich culture and heritage of the country.

Starting the year 2020 with COVID 19, Lok Virsa has shown tremendous performance through out the year with online programmes as well as live events followed by strict SOPs.

An official of Lok Virsa informed APP that they successfully held annual 10-days long mega event Lok Mela to show the culture of all provinces.

The objective of the festival was to reinforce and strengthen national integration by promoting the cultural heritage of Pakistan through active participation of all provinces, Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

Furthermore, to pay rich tributes to the Sufi saints, Lok Virsa organized a three-dimensional diorama on Sufis and Shrines where musicians performed by posturing their selves in Sufi saints like Laal Shahbaz Qalandar, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Sachal Sarmast were performed, he added.

Two-day cultural activities were observed as Black Day to express solidarity with the Kashmiris brothers who are struggling for their just right to self-determination.

Moreover, many condolences were paid to the folk artists during the year including Ustad Muhammad Ajmal Khan for his meritorious services towards the promotion of country’s folk music, he stated.

Last but not least, Lok Virsa also celebrated 144th birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on December 25 with national fervor and passion.

The Institute which is specialized in dealing with research, collection, documentation, preservation and dissemination of Pakistan’s traditional culture, worked in close collaboration with all federating units and community based organizations for furtherance of its objectives.

Lok Virsa Folk Heritage Museum has been striving to preserve and promote cultural heritage of the country both tangible and intangible.