May 13, 2020

The second round edition of Bamyan Dambura festival (music festival) took place under a brightly-coloured blue sky on June, welcoming thousands of spectators from across the country to celebrate the hypnotic jingle of one of the country’s best-loved music instruments.

The guitar-like Dambura is made from mulberry wood, that is poplar and largely used by classic singers and folklore musicians mainly played in the northern and central parts of the country. The Dambura Festival is much more than a sing-a-long, however.

Afghans take part in this local music festival in Bamyan, Backed by the Chinese embassy to Afghanistan, UNESCO and the provincial government of Bamyan, the music party/festival “Bamyan Dambora Festival” has been widely welcomed by Afghans, according to Mohammad Ali Shida, one of the organizers of the five-day program.

It aims to promote traditional music, introduce traditional handicrafts, strengthen tourism and celebrate culture. While such events are routine in many countries, in Afghanistan, they carry special significance, because they are not easy to hold once, let alone twice in a row.

Many artists came from other provinces — Ghazni, Ghor and Daikundi as well as the capital Kabul.

Although there is a small trickle of foreign tourists into the province every year, mostly it is Afghans from other provinces who brave the unstable roads leading into Bamyan.

“I wish every province was Bamyan and every resident was a Bamyani,” Ahmad Kakar, a resident of Jalalabad province who attended this year’s festival, told Global Voices.

Reference:
Xinhua - Music party “Bamyan Dambora Festival” welcomed by Afghans
Global Voices - Why Bamyan province brings out the best of Afghanistan