Masala Family Festival 2024 – Karachi

Pakistan’s biggest and much anticipated family festival, Masala Family Festival (MFF) 2024, Karachi – organised by Masala TV (South Asia’s only 24-hour culinary channel) was held At Expo Centre, Karachi, on February 17 and 18. As anticipated, this year too, the festival attracted a huge number of visitors from not only Karachi but other cities of Pakistan as well. According to Saher Saad, Head of Masala TV and GM, Special Projects & Events, the reason for the event’s huge popularity among the masses is the reasonable ticket pricing. “With inflation at its highest in the country, and myriad economic challenges, when stalls offer discounted items or free goodies, the consumers like to purchase in bulk which helps them maintain their budgets, and since MFFs have stalls covering almost all areas of lifestyle, the attendees have a lot of shopping options.”

“Moreover, the daily drudgery of living in a metropolis and the constant hustle and bustle can be overwhelming for people; hence events such as MFF are a way to provide the common man the much-needed reprieve he needs for a weekend to spend some quality time with his family,” she adds. 

As always, the biggest attraction of the event remained the meet-and-greet sessions with HUM Masala’s chefs namely, Mehboob Khan, Shireen Anwar, Rida Aftab, Zarnka Sidhwa, Saad Butt, Saima Jamil and their live cooking shows, where attendees enjoyed the aromatic scents of freshly prepared dishes as well as sampled them. The cooking shows were hosted by Abeel Javed on Day One and by Kiran Khan on Day Two. The crowd thronged around the stage in Hall Two was a testament to the popularity of Masala TV and their brand ambassadors.

Apart from chefs, there were celebrities who also graced the events. A game show was hosted by Umer Alam, where audiences were given a chance to win exciting prizes from their favourite actors such as Nadia Khan, Muneeb Butt, Osama Khan, Zainab Shabbir and Azfar Rehman.

“With inflation at its highest in the country, and myriad economic challenges, when stalls offer discounted items or free goodies, the consumers like to purchase in bulk which helps them maintain their budgets, and since MFFs have stalls covering almost all areas of lifestyle, the attendees have a lot of shopping options.”

Beauty Masterclass, a new activity introduced this year, was arranged in Hall 4, with seating arrangement for attendees. The masterclasses were conducted by various, renowned makeup artists including Nadia Hussain and Rashid Salon on the first day, and by Sana Junaid & Sarah Omar, Ramsha Ehsan and Furqan on the second. Saher says the masterclasses were introduced to give masses an access to celebrity beauticians and to learn their makeup tricks and techniques which otherwise they do not have access to and are expensive. She says most of the bridal makeup masterclasses gave a ‘Certification of Participation’ to the attendees so that if they were interested, the certificate could add as a credential for them to enrol in other workshops and master the skill further. “This has gained us huge popularity and appreciation and now we aim to setup a fashion arena where MFF will also feature designers, local cosmetic and beauty brands to build awareness among the masses,” adds Saher.

Visitors also had a field day shopping as all major FMCG companies participated in the event with their stalls set up in other halls which sold everything from household appliances to food items, crockery, clothing, jewellery, personal care products, perfumes, napkins, diapers, stationary etc. There were also pet and auto shows arranged for the attendees on both days.

The large, vibrant space outside was dedicated for the Food Court, where an array  of stalls were lined on both sides offering a variety of foods to cater to diverse tastes and preferences. Tables and chairs were set in between these stalls for people to enjoy their food. With numerous cuisines available, it provided a delightful experience for people of all ages and budgets, ensuring everyone could find something they enjoyed.

A little further from the Food Court was the Kids Zone with dedicated areas for rides and games, where children played in groups or waited for their turns to take rides.

On both days, the festival concluded on a high note with performances by the musical sensation Asim Azher, Khudgharz, Wajhi Farooki, Raffay Israr, Ali Tariq and the crowd puller Young Stunners, who performed to audience requests, danced and sang along to their favourite tunes and gave a thunderous applause to the performers.

Talking about the challenges of managing such an event, Saher says MFF had a daily footfall of 20,000 (40,000 collectively) which was massive in terms of crowd management. But with the network’s competent teams prepared well ahead of the event, they were able to achieve their targets and meet those challenges. “With so many activities scheduled for this event, our main challenge was time management, to see that each activity finished in time so that we could start the other, and for the transition to happen smoothly. I am proud of the fact that we have successfully concluded MFF Karachi and I hope we will manage the one in Lahore as efficiently as we did it here,” concludes Saher.