National Peace Festival 2025 Jointly Organized by the National Skills University, Islamabad and Shaoor Foundation - 21 -23 May

PEACE FESTIVAL HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED IN JUNE 2025

The upcoming National Peace Festival 2025 is not just an event, but a significant symbol of hope, resilience, and the transformative power of youth. Taking place at the National Skills University Islamabad (NSU) from May 21st to 23rd, this vibrant celebration provides a crucial platform for young Pakistanis to reshape narratives of unity and peace through their expressions, dialogues, and actions.

Organised by the Shaoor Foundation for Education and Awareness (SFEA), in close partnership with the National Skills University Islamabad, supported by the European Union, UNODC, and NACTA, the festival underscores a striking coalition of educational vision, international collaboration, and grassroots engagement. At its core lies a singular question: Can the youth of Pakistan be empowered to use their voices, art, and ideas to drive positive change?

As the event’s growing national interest suggests, the answer is a resounding YES.

A University Championing Civic Engagement

The choice of NSU Islamabad as the host institution is significant. As Pakistan’s premier technology and vocational university, the National Skills University is not merely preparing its students for the job market. Under progressive leadership, it creates a unique space where technical education intersects with civic responsibility, critical thinking, and peacebuilding. By opening its gates to students and non-students alike, NSU demonstrates an inclusive approach that defies the often rigid boundaries between academia and society.

NSU’s role in the Peace Festival also reflects a broader transformation within higher education across South Asia: the move from passive knowledge transmission to active social engagement. The university stands at the forefront, offering campus space for ideas, activism, and inclusive dialogue.

The Peace Festival is not a series of lectures, but an immersive experience. It's a platform where creativity meets advocacy, and where peace is not just preached, but performed through storytelling, mural painting, theatre, digital content creation, and more. Importantly, the event is not limited to formal students; it welcomes 'peace champions' from all walks of life and every corner of Pakistan.

This inclusivity is key. It reflects a vision of peace that is decentralised, democratic, and deeply participatory.

As the National Peace Festival 2025 unfolds at the National Skills University Islamabad, it will do more than amplify young voices. It will redefine what a university can be: a sanctuary for hope, a stage for inclusion, and a laboratory for peace. In these fragile times, such spaces are not just valuable but essential.

Pakistan’s future, like that of many nations, will be shaped not in courtrooms or parliaments alone but in festivals like these, where the next generation learns not only how to speak but also how to listen, heal, and build.