The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) has proposed a Master Chefs of Lahore Festival from November 23 to December 2, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The WCLA is in currently signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Australian Master Chef to obtain the franchise.
The Australian embassy has shown interest in collaborating with the WCLA for the event.
The proposed venue for the festival is the Wazir Khan square.
The backup venues are Lahore Fort’s steps and Ali Park.
Talking to The Express Tribune, WCLA Director General Kamran Lashari said with the opening of several multinational food chains, local dishes were fast disappearing.
He said the Walled City had traditionally been associated with a variety of food.
“The food, once the benchmark of Lahore’s culture, is nowhere,” he said
Lashari said he feared that the international food chains might overshadow the originality of traditional food.
He said stalls carrying various foods would be set up at the festival.
He said display of imported food items would not be allowed.
He said the styles and structures of the stalls would be decided after the finalisation of the sponsors.
The festival would go on from 8pm till 1am.
The festival would also feature performances by Arif Lohar, Tariq Tafoo, Saeen Zahoor, Abid Baila, Pappu Saeen and Goonga Saeen.
There will be monkey shows, flute shows, kissa khawani(story telling) and parrot shows as well.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2013.