More than 4,000 members of the Pakistani community in Riyadh took part in a gala family show hosted by their embassy to mark their country’s Independence Day on Thursday.

The family festival, arranged by the Pakistan Embassy, was the first of its kind to be held inside the embassy premises.

The festival comprised traditional stalls, food outlets, henna and fashion items. The entire embassy premises was packed with men, women and children.

The focus of attraction was the live musical performance by local bands led by Asad and Abbasi. They delivered a splendid performance by singing popular numbers, including Urdu and Punjabi ghazal and modern and classical songs.

The traditional Punjabi bhangra and patriotic songs revved up the joy and pleasure for the revelers.

The young and the old, men and women, were seen making frequent requests for their favorite numbers. The band members were more than willing to oblige them.

The event was compered by Abbas Sarwar Qureshi, head of chancery at the Pakistan Embassy. With his skilful anchoring he was able to keep the momentum going till the very end.

A galore of prizes were distributed among the winners of the quiz competition for children.

In his speech, Khayyam Akbar, charge d’affaires at the Pakistan Embassy, said: “We should not forget our brethren, the internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have been uprooted during the military action in North Waziristan. He appealed to the community members to help the IDPs in every possible manner.

Akbar said the embassy and its officials were committed to serving Pakistani community members to make their stay in Saudi Arabia comfortable. He said the embassy was receiving more than 700 requests for machine readable passports everyday.