It is the one festival that many members of the Pakistani community wait for the entire year. Not just an opportunity to meet and greet friends, it is an opportunity to witness a slice of home culture away from home.



Ambassador of Pakistan Shahzad Ahmad, left, with officers of the Ministry of Interior at the show.

For some, this Eid al-Adha was the perfect occasion to go up and spin in Attan (traditional Pashtun folk dance) on the beats of traditional drum and high-voltage vocals of Pashto singers in the background.
Members of Pakistani community gathered in hundreds to celebrate Eid al-Adha at Al Wakrah Sports Club Auditorium on Monday. The cultural show organised as part of ‘Communities Eid Al Adha 2016 Celebrations’ by the Ministry of Interior (MoI), which is spread over the two days of Eid, witness people enjoying performances by artists from Pakistan, invited to participate in the show.
Pakistani Ambassador Shahzad Ahmad along with dignitaries from the MoI witnessed the show. Also in attendance were  a large number of blue collar workers from Pakistan. 
“We received a large number of people. The crowd was in fact more than we expected and you could tell from the people’s reaction that they enjoyed the show,” Jenan Bangash, an organiser and a Pakistani community leader, tells Community in a chat at the cultural show.
Conducted by well-known anchor and TV host Soweba — from Peshawar city in Pakistan — the cultural show featured performances by well-known Pakistani singers such as Waheed Achakzahi, multi-lingual singer Rizwana from Islamabad and Mariyah Khan from Peshawar.
Known for his Attan music, Achakzahi was eagerly awaited by the audience. The moment the singer stepped on the stage, members of the audience went up in the air doing Attan. This traditional dance was a special attraction and added colour and energy to the show.
Achakzahi’s voice pulled many up from their seats and a large crowd gathered in a perfect ensemble to perform the dance. Attan is a folk dance conducted by Pashtuns during weddings or other celebrations such as engagements, New Year, and informal gatherings.
The performance of Attan dance traditionally is in the open air and is performed by a troupe of 50 to 100 dancers waving red scarves in the air while musicians beat drums. This dance is performed as a regional dance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
“My speciality is in Attan. I sing songs that are more folk and are Attan can be performed on them,” Achakzahi tells Community in a chat backstage. Coming to Doha for the second time, he says the audience here has been amazing.
“They are so full of energy and very responsive. It was lovely to perform here among the people who are celebrating their Eid away from home and to provide them with some taste of home through our music,” says the Pashto singer from Peshawar.
A student of MPhil at the University of Peshawar, Achakzahi says music is his passion. As a hobby, he says he has been singing songs for more than seven years and intends to keep it going. Achakzahi also shoots videos for his songs and puts them on social media.
He believes the social media gives him more listeners than he could have ever gathered through traditional means of production.
As the momentum developed, Achakzahi’s Attan songs attracted even the non-Pashtun members of the audience to join in the dance.
To the accompaniment of drums, the dancers formed a circle, taking each other by the hand while revolved in circles of their own. The dance started with slow steps that gradually got faster.
A large number of Pashto-speaking members of the audience got a chance to enjoy their traditional Pashto folk songs and performances from different artists. 
Mariyah Khan enthralled the audience with her voice. An actor-turned singer, Mariyah is a well-known artist in Peshawar from where she started her career in acting at Pakistan Television (PTV) and played different roles in multiple serials.
“I was always interested in joining the showbiz after my studies and I started my career with acting. Singing was also my passion so I later shifted to singing professionally,” Mariyah tells Community. She performed a number of Pashto songs that were well-received by the audience. 
Dressed in traditional outfit from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, singer Shahid Ali Khan was huge hit with his mainly Pashto and some multi-lingual songs.
Having a good grip over many regional languages of Pakistan, Khan has the ability to cater to a culturally diverse audience, which it was at the show as it included members from other different community speaking languages such as Punjabi, Seraiki (language of Southern Punjab in Pakistan), Sindhi, Urdu (Pakistan’s national language) and others.
“I come from a musical family. I have been singing since childhood and by virtue of travelling within Pakistan to different areas I have been able to learn many different languages. I can sing in all those languages,” says Khan. However, his main command is over Pashto language as he is now settled in Peshawar. 
Rizwanna from Islamabad — the capital of Pakistan — enthralled the audience with Punjabi and 
Urdu songs, especially national songs.
She is also a multi-lingual artist who started her career from PTV. “I believe it is passion for music and singing that I have been able to learn many languages and I can sing in all those languages,” says Rizwanna.
She says she can sing in Punjabi, Pashto, Potohari, and Urdu, among other languages. Her Punjabi folk songs were a huge hit. Punjab Music Group chief, Nazakat Ali Khan performed a tabla (drums) solo besides providing background music to other singers.
The organisers say they were “overwhelmed” by the number of Pakistanis who attended the event. There were special arrangements made for families, and members of the audience were given prizes at the end of the programme through lucky draws and quizzes.
The artists performed at a similar Eid cultural programme on Tuesday, the second day of Eid at the Asian Town, which was also organised by the MoI for its Eid for Communities programme.