A 22-member cultural troupe, led by Ministry of Culture Deputy Secretary Abdul Sattar Khokhar, will take part in the second Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival at Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province in China.

In a press briefing held at Lok Virsa, it was informed that the Pakistani cultural troupe was organised by Lok Virsa under the title voices & Colours of Pakistan. The team comprises popular folk artistes from all four provinces, including famed vocalists Akhtar Chanal Zehri, Abdul Baqi Khayal, Meena Sadaf and Sangeeta and instrumentalists Akbar Khameesu Khan, Ijaz Sarhadi, Muhammad Ajmal, Muhammad Khan, Salman Adil, Raja Bhaijan, Sagheer Ahmad and Shahan, along with a team of dancers.

The festival will be hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Culture, the Sichuan Provincial People's Government and UNESCO, while it is being organised by the Chengdu Municipal People's Government, the Culture Department of Sichuan Province and China Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Centre at Chengdu from June 1-7.

With the theme different Ethnic Cultures but Common Spirit, the activities of the second China Chengdu International Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival includes a grand opening ceremony, street performance, global embassy-level forum on the protection of human intangible cultural heritage, exposition of this heritage, theatre performance by representatives of opera successors, and activities in historic and cultural scenic areas. The closing ceremony would hold an award distribution ceremony, which would be attended by ambassadors and state representatives from 40 countries, invited by UNESCO.

The Chengdu festival is a big international event, aiming to strengthen the protection of intangible cultural heritage worldwide. The first such festival was held in Chengdu from May 23-June 10, 2007, covering 270 activities in 11 categories and attracting 72 troupes from 68 countries, international organisations and domestic communities. With the involvement of over four million delegates, local citizens and tourists, the festival greatly contributed to proactive exchange, publicity and promotion of the protection of intangible cultural heritage, and got high praise from the international community.

Chengdu city has 3,000 years of history and is in the first group of historic and cultural cities in China. After the massive May 12 earthquake in the Sichuan province, the Chengdu Municipal People's Government pledged to hold the second Chengdu festival with its original purpose as well as rebuilding people's confidence in Chengdu as a safe, advancing and harmonious city, also aiming to improve its economic and social development.