Ancient winter festival in Pakistan’s northwestern Chitral valley underway

ISLAMABAD: An ancient winter festival in Pakistan’s northwestern Chitral valley is underway, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) tourism department said on Wednesday, featuring local and foreign tourists, traditional rituals and festivities such as singing and dancing. The Kalash are a group of about 4,000 people, possibly Pakistan’s smallest minority, who live in the mountains of the Hindu Kush, where they practice an ancient polytheistic faith. Members of the tribe come together each year in December to celebrate the two-week Chawmos festival to mark the winter festival and the upcoming new year.

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