Khalis Food Market held its OctoberFest this Sunday at Aslam Riaz Park.
The market, which had been delayed by an hour out of respect for the late Justice Javed Iqbal’s Qul in a separate part of the park, welcomed over 3,000 people.
Established in 2013, the Market became the first of its kind. Its founder Rizwan Naeem acknowledged that while the basic concept was a farmers’ market, it had grown. “Our belief is that anything in to which people have made and put their hard work in to creating, with pure motives, that should also be covered in this set up.”
There were over 40 stalls in the market, each boasting a variety of products, ranging from organic grains to gluten free produce, from home made preserves to spices, from embellished dresses and ornaments to paper crafts.
“It’s always open air,” said Rizwan, “I’m not inclined to hold something like this indoors. And while the number of stalls has grown over the years, I don’t think I’d want it to cross fifty- that just creates unnecessary competition.”
Talking about Khalis and its possible influence as a trend setter for more such events, Rizwan said it had potential, but there needed to be more investment and interest.
“With no support from local government bodies, going through proper procedure takes time- it took six weeks just to book this location. Plus it is difficult but necessary to have consistency, to appeal to people who would want to invest time and money and effort in to things like this.”
“You can’t run a whole business cycle from this,” he accepted. “But it helps you explore the new business potential.”
“It’s very popular,” said Ruby, who was exhibiting her handicrafts for the first time. “You know, people think it’ll be like a mandi but you’ll see so many different things.” Ruby acknowledged that the majority of the crowd was from the more educated class but pointed out that that was probably the reason for the events success.
“Yes it’s mostly the educated tabka,” she said, “but it’s the educated people who are more aware of importance of organic foods and are health conscious, that’s probably why the food market is always such a success. The kind of people who come here would definitely point out any hygiene problems if there were any, which there aren’t.”
Sadia Gillani – who has been exhibiting her handmade crafts under Prisms and Paintbrushes since 2013 – explained the appeal of the market to the cottage industry. “It’s an organic market, I knew that the kind of people who came here would be the kind who would understand my work.”
Amna Hansain, who has been making and selling natural skin care products for five years echoed the sentiment.
“It’s the affluent class- and they’re the ones who’ll want to buy these products. Things are expensive but because they’re quality products, people always want to buy. Plus the market isn’t a weekly thing- so it doesn’t get monotonous. The people actually wait for it. I’ve had regulars call me up days in advance to confirm that I’ll be there. While e-commerce is “the future”, I like Khalis. Interacting one on one really lets me explain exactly what my product is.”
The stall owners aren’t just from Lahore: some of the exhibitions were from out of town. People like Mehr Bano and Raheem, from “Hip Flask”, came to Khalis from Islamabad.
“I mean, it’s a food market,” Mehr Bano pointed out, “and we’re selling things like bumper stickers and posters. But – especially the young people and young couples – they really loved the stuff.”
“Everyone’s stopping by and checking things out,” added Raheem. “They’re buying stuff, so that’s great.”
The market was open from 5 to 10 and till the end the small enclosure was teeming with life as families and individuals travelled from stall to stall to sample and purchase different items, or to make inquiries about new and interesting products. “I never use the word “I” when talking about the work done here, I always say “we”,” said Rizwan Naeem, gesturing at the people milling around. “None of this would be possible without all of them.”
