Karachi Eat Festival has become a yearly thing now. The most awaited event of the year was being held for the fifth time. However, the venue was not Frere Hall this time. Instead, the three day food fest was held at Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Park in Clifton. Today will be the last day of the event.
Celebrities on the ground
On their 5th anniversary, Aslam Khan and Omar Omari of CKO Event Architecture said,
“This is the year of the ‘BIG EAT’. We have raised the bar in terms of venue size, number of participants, surprise performances from Pakistan’s leading pop singers and much more. We remain focused on our objective behind the festival, which is to provide great family entertainment, reactivation of public spaces around our cities and to inspire a community spirit.”
Bigger than ever
Well we cannot deny the fact that the ‘BIG EAT’ was bigger than any of its events happened before. There were 125 stalls this year as compared to last year’s 98. Entrance ticket this year were sold for Rs. 300 whereas last year they were sold for Rs. 250 but Rs. 100 from the ticket were redeemable so they’ve actually reduced the price this year.
Lack of Management
A lot of complaints about the “mismanagement” surfaced up before the event even got going. The event was planned to open its doors to the public at 3:00 pm but instead people were waiting outside more than they expected, signs of mismanagement. The average time to get out from the event was approximately 90 minutes. With increasing number of participants, the management had their handful.
Enthusiasm of Karachiites
Despite all the odds, Karachiites didn’t lose their enthusiasm and remained pumped up throughout the event.
Among all the stalls the most highlighted one was “Special Dreamers” by the specially-baled and physically challenged children. The art works being sold at that stall were created by the children themselves. A good initiative by Karachi Eat 2018 to encourage and support them.
The event spiced up when Bilawal Bhutto along with Aseefa Bhutto paid a visit on Saturday. Bilawal Bhutto intermingled with the visitors and clicked selfies with them. He also painted a design of his party’s electoral symbol i.e. Arrow with the kids.
The price of dishes at Karachi Eat 2018 were higher than expected but the quality they provided was top notch so that’s even. Foodies were able to treat their taste buds with more than Eight different cuisines all under one roof, including Thai, Japanese, Pakistani, Mexican, Swiss, Chinese, South Indian, etc. This time they had stalls all the way from Lahore and Islamabad, such as Awesamosas and Kitchen 23 respectively! Of course last year’s famous Wingitt, Chapli Kebab House, Chai Wala, Nurpur and others also made it to the event.
Tipu Burger at Nurpur Stall
Great rush was witnessed at the Nurpur stall where people tried their appetizing “Tipu Burger”. Apart from their tempting cuisine, the main highlight was the appearance of Renowned Chef Saadat Siddiqui who was invited by the House of Nurpur. Here’s what he said about the Karachi Eat 2018:
“It’s a treat for the people of Karachi because you don’t really get such opportunities on daily basis. People should come out and enjoy the delights of this festival.”-Chef Saadat Siddiqui
EatsApp
EatsApp, a new phone app designed for all the foodies out their. The app was planned to launch at Karachi Eat 2018 but will be active even after the event. The app is a directory of the restaurants and eateries in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad where user can review, post images and rate their favorite eateries.
Wonderland
Apart from the delicious food they had to offer, team Karachi Eat made it a fun hub for everyone. They arranged performances by lead singers of the country and fun booths for the kids. Wonderland and live painting stalls were setup to entertain kids as well as adults.
As if it was already not a huge success that our famous heartthrob Atif Aslam decided to add a spark by stealing the limelight on the second day of the event with his melodious voice. The crowd went crazy as he performed ‘Tu jaane na’ and ‘Adaat’ in his mesmerizing voice.
Success
The success of the event can be estimated by the huge crowd of people who showed up on all three days of the event. It created a marvelous opportunity for aspiring chefs and entrepreneurs. It was incredible to see the battle of tastes on such massive level and we hope that it will be bigger and better next year.
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