Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/25408
Title: Impact of Shandur Festival on Local Economy, and Culture A case study of Shandur
Authors: Sabiha Israr
Keywords: Anthropology
Issue Date: 2021
Publisher: Quaid I Azam University
Abstract: Festivals and events are closely linked to tourism. There has been increasing popularity of festivals across the world and in Pakistan. Such festivals have close relations with the host communities and a great impact on the life, culture, and economy of the local people. This is why there has been a great amount of research regarding the festivals. A great deal of research done is aimed at exploring the economic impacts of festivals, but the cultural impacts have not been covered in detail. Further, in the case of Pakistan, indepth research over the festivals and events focusing on socio-economic and cultural impacts is lacking. The same is the case with the Shandur Polo Festival, which is the major event celebrated in Chitral, the Northern area of Pakistan. Shandur polo festival, characterized by a unique mountain sport, is played at one of the highest polo grounds in the world it‟s a flat piece of land situated at 12230ft above sea level. The festival annually takes place in the first week of July every year and the polo match is played between the team of Chitral and Gilgit Baltistan. Shandur polo festival is a sporting festival that is deeply rooted in local culture .along with polo there are many cultural activities like cultural dance, culture music, culture show which appreciated most. Tourist Not only enjoys culture activities but also enjoy trekking, hiking in the beautiful surrounding containing snow-covered mountain, green meadows, horse riding, Archery, and paragliding as well. Shandur festival one of the famous and oldest festivals that attract tourists from around the world. In this way, the local economy is boosted, and this cultural event becomes the source of revenue generation. Besides generating economy, the festival also has great impacts on iv the socio-cultural life of the locals. This study aims at observing the impact of the Shandur festival on local culture and economy, exploring worldview regarding Shandur festival. This study explores how the Shandur festival impacts local culture and economy. An Anthropological qualitative method was used for data collection. In qualitative methods such as purposive sampling, snowball sampling, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussion have been used to explore Festival‟s impacts on them. The data is collected from 35Respondents through an interview Guide. The thematic analysis is used for data analysis. The theory of Social Change and Cultural Capital approach has been used in this study as a theoretical framework. Social Change theory relates to the impacts of the Shandur Festival over the life and culture of local people, while in the Culture Capital approach, Festival has been regarded as a cultural capital which results in economic capital. Findings of the study show that there are both positive and negative impacts of the Shandur festival on the local people and communities. Local people wait for a whole year for the festival and sell different types of local products to tourists which generate revenue for them. Tourist flow brings with them many changes for the local communities because tourists boost the local economy. But the culture of the local community receives many Impacts due to the coming of people from different parts of the country and from foreign countries as well. . The findings also reveal that the Shandur festival increased employment opportunities, living standards, transport, entrepreneurship in Chitral. Moreover; the respondents agreed that purchases of locally manufactured goods, local transport for traveling, and more spending for goods and services are linked with tourism
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/25408
Appears in Collections:M.Phil

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