SEATTLE, United States: Baloch diaspora of North America will celebrate their first culture day in Surrey, British Columbia, next week on Saturday March 31. Organized under the auspices of Baloch Community of British Columbia Society, a local organization of the Baloch community in Canada, the event aims to present Baloch culture.
“This will be the first and the biggest event of its kind in North America about Baloch culture and values,” said Dorazahi Baloch, a Seattle-based organizer of the event who has actively been campaigning to mobilize Baloch community in the Pacific Northwest. “It is a part of our greater efforts to mobilize the Baloch community in the U.S. and Canada as well as to create awareness in respective communities in both the countries about Baloch people.”
Themed as “Land of Vibrant Culture, Historically Rich and Beautiful Balochistan,” the event includes a fashion show of traditional Balochi attire followed by a talk in which speakers will shed light on Baloch people, their culture and history. “We have also invited Kurd and Canadian speakers to talk about Balochistan as well,” Dorazahi said.According to Baloch, contributions from Baloch diaspora living in greater Seattle area and British Columbia have helped them organize the event.
Each year, Balochs inside Balochistan and across the world mark March 2 as their ‘Culture Day’, organizing musical shows, displaying Balochi attire and cooking traditional Balochi dishes.
Why the event wasn’t held on March 2?
Aysha Baloch, one of the Canada-based organizers of the event, said due to busy schedules of people involved in putting the event together, they couldn’t arrange the event for March 2. “However, we will try our best to celebrate our culture next year on the same day as many Balochs across the world do.”