Lahore’s Sufi Traditions Revived in Arts Festival

This, in itself, is a cultural and even political event in Pakistan, a country where dance was officially banned for many years and the opposition coalition, the MMA, is dominated by extremist clerics who would like the same to happen to music. For Lahore, the 10-day festival was a huge, at times startling cultural event. The music ranged from pop to classical but the finest show was the pure Sufi night. There are, says Faizaan, two sets of Islamic institutions in Pakistan. Alongside the mosques, there are shrines to Sufi saints and poets, and from this network has emerged one of the festival’s musical stars, and potentially a new world music celebrity.