UCHAW (UCHAL) Festival (August 20-21)

Tour Overview

Uchaw (Uchal) is the summer festival celebrated in by the Kalash community. This festival is celebrated only in the Kalash valleys of Mumuret (Bumborate) and Rukmu (Rumboor). The main purpose of celebrating this festival Uchaw (Uchal) is to pray to God and to offer thank for blessing prosperity, good health, happiness, good crops and good dairy product in high pastures. After that the Kalash people gather in Ghriee (Charsoo) dance and sing in the Charsoo locally called Ghriee. After this festival, they Kalash start to harvest the maize crops, collect the grapes, walnuts and other fruits from their fields and orchards.

The people of Kalash valley celebrate the famous annual harvesting festival Uchal with singing, dancing and paying homage to the nature for blessing them with barley and wheat harvest season. Special foods, cheese, buttermilk and corn bread, are prepared for the event. Women in traditional dresses preformed dances.