WINTER SPORTS 2024 COMMENCING IN GILGIT BALTISTAN
Gilgit: A week long winter festival will be commencing in Gilgit from January 15th to 25th set to be played at each district.
Ashaad Karim
1/23/20242 min read
The festival includes numerous games including the premiership of the national ice-hockey championship that will be one of its kind to be held in Pakistan. Others include local sports along with several cultural events. “The festival will abet tourism and extra-curricular activities in Gilgit Baltistan” emphasized Vice president Air Commodore, GB Planning and development minister Raja Nasir Ali Khan. The festival can be an eccentric opportunity to find solace in nature for people who have a thing for traveling and exploring cultures. Over the years, local communities have been organizing many winter sports events and with the collaboration of Gilgit Baltistan government their outreach would be significantly increased.
A Glimmer of Hope
Mr. Ghulam Mohammad the Minister for Tourism, Raja Nasir Ali Khan currently working as the minister of Planning and Development, Air Commodore Retired Shahid Nadeem Vice President Pakistan Winter Sports, Additional Chief Secretary Captain Retired Mushtaq Ahmed, and Secretary Tourism, Sports, and Culture Asifullah Khan deliberated that the festival will enhance the tourism potential in the region and would be beneficial in uplifting winters tourism as well as sports on national and provincial levels. They look forward to an increasing opportunity for promoting these events on an international scale. They also added that Gilgit Baltistan’s beauty attracts tourists throughout the year and events like these have been given special consideration.
An All-Seasoned Tourism Plan
Several developments have been made in this regard during the last few years Sarfaranga festival and rally in autumn, Ice Hockey tournaments in winters sets precedent for tourists to have a glimpse of the diverse culture and alluring landscape of Gilgit Baltistan. The community led initiatives such as these events open doors towards new opportunities for people to unwind their hectic life schedule while understanding that there is more to life than work and material possessions. The increase in tourist flow means greater opportunities for the locals and tourists to leverage from. The event aims to help the tourists get a basic idea as to what sort of a culture is practiced in Gilgit Baltistan and how the indigenous people survive through the ages and freezing temperatures. The inhabitants of the region value their culture and hold an essential bond toward their surroundings which provides an essential lesson to all of us in understanding the significance of nature in the sustenance of life and the stability of the entire world.
Returning to Nature
This would also help tourists in having a closer look at the rich culture and heritage of Gilgit Baltistan and the people who have been living in such harsh terrain for millennia and yet manage to build an inherent connection with the nature around them. Nevertheless, such a connection with nature can be hardly felt in a fast growing world where we notice nature being exploited by every means leaving a perilous future behind. In response to such concerns the festival would bring the tourism potential and help remind masses about the essential bonding between man and nature which seems to be fading at a rapid pace.
