College of Tourism and Hotel Management (COTHM) Chief Operation Officer Zaheer Ahmad said that food lovers of Lahore will enjoy taste of local as well as international cuisines at the second Pakistan International Culinary Festival (PICF) 2018. Zaheer expressed these views while talking to Daily Times at a Meet and Greet session organised by Latitude Public Relation on Thursday. COTHM along with Topaz Group of Companies in collaboration with Chefs Association of Pakistan (CAP) is all set to host Pakistan International Culinary Festival 2018 (PICF). The three day event will be held from March 9 to March 11 at Al-Hamra Open Air Theatre, Gaddafi Stadium. The event is endorsed by World Association of Chefs Societies WACS – Global authority on food. Zaheer further told that the festival is second culinary championship and festival in Pakistan, for professional chefs, will be part of this festival. Along with restaurant, stalls with food and beverages companies stalls, entertainment for all, conferences and seminars on Culinary, Hospitality and tourism trends will be held. Artisans work displays, musical evenings, sufi nights, lucky draws and much more for the whole family. He added that there will be around 400 participants for the competitions of different categories as chefs, cooks from the leading four and five stars hotels of our country, students of different cooking institutes, students of schools and participants from general public will be taking part in this festival, he said. Zaheer said this is the first time internationally acclaimed chefs from five countries will be coming to Pakistan where they will participate in different culinary challenges as well as conduct live cooking of their cuisines. A total of 31 chefs from China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Tunisia will attend the event. Talking about growing trend of food festivals in Lahore, Zaheer observed that it is no wonder that the city witnesses multiple food festivals and every year the crowd keeps getting bigger; a testament to their success, adding that now even Punjab Food Authority has jumped on this bandwagon, hosting its food festival at Expo Center, Lahore. When asked why Lahore is chosen for venue, COO COTHM was of the view that the city is known across the world for its love for food. Apart from culinary competition that will run all day long, the festival will also feature food stalls of Lahore’s leading eateries, he said, adding that entertaining, musical and cultural performances will be carried out throughout the day. A separate play place for kids will also be arranged on the occasion. Published in Daily Times, March 3rd 2018.