ISLAMABAD: With the month of Ramadan inching closer to the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Fitr, the traditional celebratory fever has taken over the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. On Friday evening, residents stepped out of their homes to attend the Winter Fete, or Eid Bazaar, saying such events helped bring people closer and spread love and happiness.

The Winter Fete, an annual fashion and lifestyle exhibition, this year brought more than 60 brands and up to 3,000 visitors under one roof, with traditional clothes, handicraft, jewelry, shoes, Eid-specific items, and scrumptious food on display, giving a festive vibe to the visitors. The event ran from 5pm to 2am in the morning.

Those who attended the colorful event said such festivals should be held more frequently to give people a much-needed break from their routine and provide them with a chance to socialize and have a great time.

“It’s a very good event because it [fosters] social connectivity because the residents of Islamabad are kind of deficient in that,” Imtenan Hayi, a lawyer who was invited to the event by his acquaintances, told Arab News. 

“We need this social connectivity in order to stay happy and motivated because after the 9-5 work routine and an economic crisis that we are [facing] in our country we need such gatherings to happen more often to bring us closer and to spread love, happiness, and togetherness among us.”

Hayi said Winter Fete coinciding with the month of Ramadan was a welcome change as people usually got “lazy after iftar.”

“Such events give energy to people to keep their enthusiasm alive, especially in Islamabad,” he added.

Sabeen Abdal, one of the organizers at the event, said she and her sister had been holding the annual festival since 2015, but this year, they wanted to have a Middle East-inspired event to celebrate the month of Ramadan.

“This time, for Ramadan, we thought it would be nice to have a Middle Eastern kind of suhoor night, just like the ones in Dubai which run from iftar (evening meal) till suhoor (morning meal before fasting), with all Eid-related brands showcasing,” she said.

Abdal said she started organizing the annual event at home to give a platform to businesses that didn’t have a stores.

“In 2015, we started off on a very small scale as we had only 15 stalls then. We thought we’d give it a shot as my mother and I also do clothes, and we didn’t have a platform where we could showcase,” she said.

“We thought why not get a couple of brands together and do it at home? So that’s how the idea started which eventually came down to promoting startups from across Pakistan under one roof."

Abdal said up to 90 percent of the vendors at the exhibition were women entrepreneurs working from home, adding that the event provided them with just the required exposure.

“For them, under one roof and in one day, they get around 1,500 to 3,000 people visiting them and physically seeing their products, and even if [customers] don’t buy anything, they’d get to know about the brands and their products,” she explained.

The event saw participation from people belonging to all age groups and walks of life. Many of the visitors said they attended the fete to support their relatives and friends who had set up stalls there. 

“I think it’s a great social activity and Islamabad has very few such opportunities where citizens can come and interact with each other,” Pakistan’s information minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb, who came to the event with her kids, told Arab News.

“I am here because my cousin is here from America, she has a jewelry stall. I am here just to support her.” 

Aurangzeb said the event was less business-oriented and more like a family get-together.

“I can see other families also interacting [with each other], having food, and going around stalls, so I think it's a great opportunity and a great event,” she added.

Noreen Sami Khan, one of the guests at the event, said she showed up to support her friend who organized the event. 

“It’s a very good idea because people have been starved of entertainment, and such events rarely take place in Islamabad,” Khan said. “A lot of people have come here after iftar with their children which they normally don’t, so it’s good.”

Vendors who set up stalls at the event told Arab News that such events give a boost to their businesses, so they should be held more often. 

“I am selling brownies here and I started this business during the COVID-19 lockdown,” said Rafay Alvi, who owns a small baking business. 

“I have been coming to these events for a while now, and Winter Fete is one of the best events in the twin cities as there is a good vibe here, and there are families here, so it’s a good audience for me to target.”

Another entrepreneur, who had set up a stall for handmade dolls and puppets at the event, said the exhibition provided her with the chance to communicate with customers directly. 

“We make handmade dolls and puppets which are for kids and are part of our culture, but they have been replaced by imported toys from China,” said Ambreen Fatima, the owner of a handicraft business. 

She said the event allowed her to showcase her art that attracted a lot of attention from children, who would otherwise not be able to see these traditional toys in stores. 

Some of the visitors to the Eid Bazaar said they decided to shop from there because it was conducted in a clean and safe environment.  

“Such events are very rare in Islamabad, especially for families,” Abid Hussain, a diplomat, told Arab News. “It’s a safe and clean environment, what else can you ask for? In the rest of the world, people properly celebrate Ramadan, so we should too.”