Urdu literary and cultural festival ‘Cultural Carwaan’ is taking place in Abu Dhabi this weekend on Sunday, August 21. The day-long festival aims to gather lovers of Urdu and celebrate the culture associated with the language within the UAE.

The festival, to be held at the Armed Forces Officers Club, offers a platform for young talents who will get a chance to meet popular Urdu poets and writers from south Asia and local UAE communities. Story-telling, Mushaira, Music Dastango, and more will take place at the event, discussing the past, present, and the future of the Urdu language. An award ceremony will conclude the event.

Popular Sufi singers such as Moeed Hashmi and Tabsira Suhrawardi (Tabu) will be a part of the event alongside local talents. Gaggan Mudgal, a highly acclaimed Dubai-based artist will be presenting a hilarious account of behind-the-scenes life of a radio jockey. Poets such as Abbas Tabish and Hamida Shaheen among others will also be present at the event.

The festival is led by Dr. Sabahat Asim Wasti, a prominent UAE rehabilitation expert and Syed Sarosh Asif, a senior wealth manager based in Abu Dhabi, along with a team of local artists.

“As a platform, Cultural Carwaan will present the young, upcoming talented artists not just the opportunity to showcase their talent but also work alongside some of the internationally renowned artists, says Dr. Wasti, an author of six books.

Syed Sarosh, on the other hand, is a well-known international poet based in the UAE for the last 18 years. “While the Urdu community in the UAE has always organised individual programs, Cultural Carwaan is set to bring to its audience the many genres of Urdu literature, like drama, panel discussion, story-telling, poetry and music, all under one roof in a single day,” he said.

The festival kicks off at 2.30pm and ends at 10pm. A Green pass and a 48-hour Covid negative result will need to be shown to access the venue. Cultural Carwaan is the UAE’s first Urdu literature festival.

For more information, call 058 9349314 or email contact.culturalkaarwaan@gmail.com