LAHORE: On the second day, the turnout at the Faiz Festival was rather bigger with a considerable number of youth attending the event.

Alhamra was a happening place on Saturday where visitors could enjoy Faiz`s poetry sung by Nayyara Noor.

A sumptuous food court was also an added attraction of the festival.

The Lahore Arts Council (LAC), for the first time, had set up at the festival Alhamra Pavilion, a tastefully decorated corner, where celebrities and visitors of the festival gave their views to the digital media about the festival and had photographs clicked in the pavilion, noted couple Usman Peerzada and Samina Peerzada were also spotted at the pavilion. Saturday`s another big attraction was Open Mic where youngsters sang songs and recited Faiz`s poetry . A number of visitors sang ghazals and Nazms of Faiz.

The Drum Circle was another mega activity at the lush green lawns of Alhamra. A huge crowd gathered around the Drum Circle; the youth immensely enjoyed the upbeat beats of drums.

There were a number of thoughtprovoking sessions at the festival and one such session was Faiz Ka Lahore moderated by Amina Ali. The session had enriched information on Lahore`s culture and food. It featured the director general of Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) Kamran Lashari, filmmaker from India Karan Bali, food vlogger Ali Rehman and Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra.

Mr Bali said his paternal and maternal grandfathers belonged to the land that`s now Pakistan and his grandfather had a photo studio on the Mall Road. His paternal grandmother was a gynecologist from Sialkot and in 1940, she had published a poetry collection for children. He said he was working on a book to explore how the cinemas of India and Pakistan looked at the Partition.

Mr Lashari said in the lighter vein that anybody `who is not a foodie can`t be a Lahori`. He said the Lahorites were in love with food that`s why its food streets were always busy areas. The food streets leave one with a pedestrian experience and that `half of Europe is a food café and I want to turn half of Lahore into an open café, if I am given such an opportunity`.

Ali Rehman said the legacy of food was dying and traditional food shops should be revived because they introduced their unique taste. He said he was not against the food streets but the old shops in those streets and in the walled city should be supported to keep food legacy intact.

Dr Zehra said Lahore`s recognition was associated with its traditional food taste. She recalled the days when food was cheap to buy and had immense taste. She preferred Lahore`s traditional food over fast food.