Boroghil Festival

The Boroghil festival is held from 15 to 17 July at the famous Boroghil plateau at the summer settlement of Shuwor Sheer 3690m. This is yet another annual festival added to the calendar of events in Chitral. The level grassy Shuwor Sheer ( or Shua Suwere) is situated at the junction of the Chianter glacier, the Zindikharam pass to Darkot and Yasin, the Kurambar pass down into Iskhumnan and the Darwaza pass into the Wakhan corridor.

The salient feature of this festival are various events like wild mountain polo, Horse race on the wide pastures, Yak Polo and Yak race the only event of its kind in the world, Buz Kashi, and traditional music in the evenings. Close by are various summer settlements like Yirgot Maidan ( bearded vultures plain ) and Top Khana and lower down Lashkargah Goz the home of the famous leader of the area , the late Mirza Rafi. On Hindukush Trails first trekking reconnaissance into the area in “ 1989 “, Mirza Rafi accompanied us and talked about how he wanted to preserve his culture and traditions. Boroghil was then closed for foreigners and there used to be a sign board at Mastuj saying. NO FOREIGNERS BEYOND THIS POINT. It took us some effort to convince the authorities that this was a lovely peaceful area and should be opened for tourism , our trekking groups helped create new opportunities for the locals. Mirza Rafis son Umer Rafi now promotes the cultural activities of the area. The Wakhi Sirikuli ,Tajik & Kirghiz tribes who are scattered over the Boroghil in Pakistan & Wakhan corridor in Afghanistan find this festival a wonderful opportunity to exchange pleasantries. It is an occasion where families meet, news shared and marriages formalized. The area offers the pristine turquoise Kurambar Lake at 4620m a stopover for migratory birds from Russia and Central Asia . Rising above the lake is Zhoe Sar peak climbed by many Hindukush Trails clients, close by is Chianter glacier the source of the Chitral river.

This is a festival of traditions, fun and excitement on the high pastures and Yakati Yak on sturdy yaks.

We organize package tours to all festivals in different regions of Pakistan.