LAHORE: The second day of Lahore Eat 2017 drew foodies in droves as thousands of people from different walks of lives thronged the event on Saturday. According to the Latitude Corporate Relationship Solutions (CRS), the number of visitors at the first day was 7,000 to 8,000. However, he said, the second day saw a massive turnout of the citizens. It is pertinent to mention here that three-day Lahore Eat 2017, touted as the biggest food festival of the city, is being held at the Fortress Stadium where leading food chains, restaurants, bakeries and other food companies have setup their stalls offering a variety of cuisines. Entry of bachelors is banned by organizers, and only families can enter the festival. People, especially women, were pretty satisfied with the quality of food, taste and environment, and appreciated the organisers for organising a family-only event. “It was a wonderful enjoyment for me and my friends. No doubt it was a great decision by the organisers for restricting the festival to a family event,” said a visitor, Mehwish. Another visitor Abuzar said that the government should also organise such festivals. “This is the real way to defeat terrorists, who actually wanted all of us to stay at homes,” he added. Sharing her experience, Tania, mother of three, said the festival provided her a chance to taste different cuisines at one place. She; however, said that arrangements were not up to the mark as compared to the Lahore Eat 2016, where more stalls were set up.”But still I think it was a perfect step by organisers to arrange the festival despite security problems.” Meanwhile, owners and manager of restaurants were of the view that there was a huge gap between the stalls set up on either sides of the stadium, as they had to cross the whole stadium to reach the other side. Sana Malik, chief executive officer of Tea Cosy, said the festival gave her the chance to introduce her product to a variety of customers. “In Pakistan, we have a busy life and don’t have much time to interact with people, but at Lahore Eat I have had a chance to interact with different people, which was an excellent experience,” she added. Mubeen, chief executive officer of the Sarak Pe Karak said that active participation of people had made the festival a success. He added that it was Lahore Eat 2016, which provided his company a chance to establish his setup and the idea of selling tea in a whole new way has changed the perspective of customers as well as owners.