“We really wanted to create something special here,” said Rafay Ali, one of the organisers of the event. “We wanted to be apart from other festivals that have been done in the past so we decided to spice it up with a bit of everything!”
Indeed, one of the reasons that the event caught the eye on paper was because of the fact that it had so much to offer in terms of variety. One can question it in terms of a business perspective and see that it’s not a bad idea at all. Indeed, hours on end with just music, singing and eating lacked originality.
There was nothing to set the event apart from the countless concerts and festivals that have been hosted in Lahore without the variety that Metanoia Pakistan decided to bring to the table. Therefore, the Met Carnival was a refreshing change of scenery in that regard. Indeed, considering the fact that the event was delayed for 3/4 hours, it was surprising to see how many people were willing to stay longer regardless. That would not have happened at your average festival in Lahore.
The event was hosted by Daniyal Mirza, one of the most popular announcers and hosts in Pakistan who specializes primarily in hosting and announcing boxing and MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) events. He also hosts a podcast on YouTube by the name of On The Mic
The first music performance that day was by Abdul Hannan, a rising star in the industry who rose to fame via Spotify and YouTube. He became famous rapidly after he released 'Faaslay' in 2020 on YouTube which has gained 702k views.
Seeing Abdul Hannan on stage,the crowd went wild seeing the young singer. Abdul soon had the entire audience’s attention as he belted out hit after hit including Faaslay and Iraaday. His talent as a performer was obvious from the reaction he drew from the crowd and so too was the fact that he was far from being in his prime if he could get a reception like that at this point in his career and could grow to be even better.
Next up was Annural Khalid. The 23 year-old singer made a name for herself on Instagram where, she would share videos of herself singing and playing an acoustic guitar. This won her a digital audience that eventually led to her professional debut when she released 'Lost' in a collaboration with UMAIR. Later, she won the hearts of millions afterwards when she released her cover 'Dil ko karrar aya' which has gained 2.8 million views on her YouTube channel so far. Since then, she has released 'Mujhe Le Chal’, ‘Pretty Lies’ and a few more songs and performs all over Pakistan in concerts.
In true style, Annural Khalid he blew away the audience with the same amazing, unfiltered voice which won her the appreciation and fame she has gained so far.
What was most heartening was her support for the fellow performers. “I’m so glad I got to meet Natasha Noorani whom I absolutely adore,” said Annural. Given her own popularity online, one couldn’t help but ask what her future plans were. “My priority is making music,” said Annural.
Faris Shafi was the main crowd puller. The 35 year-old Pakistani rapper has been in the music scene for 9 months until he released his latest song ‘With Love’ 3 weeks ago. His songs Muaziz Saarif and Ye Dunya are his most popular songs on Spotify and YouTube. Recently it was revealed Shafi was part of the Pakistan Super League 8 Anthem.
Despite the delays, the crowd stayed awaiting the star and what a performance it was. His energy was electrifying and the energy in the crowd reciprocated in full. Shafi gave it his all as he sang all his hit songs including ‘Introduction’, ‘Nazar’ and more.
Due to the time lag where it seemed nothing was happening and people were mulling about, the boxing matches really revved up the energy.There were three fights, each lasting three rounds. The fights were sponsored by ONE.
Each fight was more intense than the last one. The third fight however, took spot number one. Moez Khan Niazi knocked out his opponent in 1 minute, 56 seconds with a brutal haymaker to the right side of his opponents head. His opponent went down for a few dozen seconds and indeed for some time everyone feared the worst had happened until he got up on his own two feet and walked away with the assistance of his trainer.
While the Met Carnival may appear to be an isolated event on its own, the impact of such an event is that it is a reminder of the need to cultivate and protect the beauty of youth and all that it has to offer in creativity.