KABUL - Qais Shaqasi fell in love at a family wedding some five years ago.

The object of his affection was an “oddly shaped wooden contraption” being handled by a man at the wedding and which made appealing sounds. He later learned that the “contraption” was called a guitar.

When he turned 18 he bought his first guitar with some money he received from his parents. He did not tell them about his purchase as the money was intended for computer classes. As there were no music schools in the Afghan capital of Kabul at that time, he started taking online guitar lessons.

For two years, he practised and honed his skills – but in secret, as he figured his family would not approve of his new passion.

“I was enthralled,” Mr. Shaqasi recalled. “Learning guitar and playing music was just what I wanted to do. I could not be doing anything else.”

Today, at age 22, the budding musician is a founding member of ‘District Unknown,’ Afghanistan’s first heavy metal band. And, along with his band-mates, he was one of more than a dozen Afghan musicians and guest artists from abroad taking part in the third annual Sound Central Arts Festival in Kabul last week.

The United Nations-supported gathering is Afghanistan’s, and Central Asia’s, only alternative arts event. Created by an Australian multimedia artist and musician, Travis Beard, three years ago, the Festival provides a platform for artistic expression for Afghan youth. In addition to the musical performances covering a range of genres – such as rock and roll, folk, rap, punk, reggae and electronic – the event’s activities included film screenings, poetry recitals, graffiti displays, photo exhibits, skateboarding demonstrations and a puppet show. Included among the screenings were documentary films produced by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on themes related to arts and culture and children’s rights.

“Year by year, this Festival keeps growing in creative programming and capacity. There is a demand for this kind of work from the Afghan audience and we are here to supply this demand. At the Festival, musicians gain exposure and perform with artistic freedom,” Mr. Beard said.

“Young emerging artists also learn how to make and bring their music and art to the next level,” he added. “They learn to work as a band, get good stage presence, work with a crowd and play with others.”

Opening on 30 April and held on two dedicated stages over four days, the event took place at the French Cultural Centre, with more than 3,000 people attending.

“This is a place where people can remember that even in the time of conflict it is okay to have fun and celebrate life,” said Qasem Foushanji, a painter who is also the bass guitar player of ‘District Unknown.’ “War sometimes makes you disconnect from your own humanity, and this festival reminds us that we are alive and that we can come out of that war box. I am telling people to believe in youth, to believe and invest in us.”

As in previous years, the Festival kicked off with the so-called Women’s Day, which focused on a special performance for an audience made up women and girls from high schools, women’s shelters and orphanages. This year’s turnout was the biggest ever, according to Mr. Beard, with more than 500 women and girls, aged between 12 to 50 years, in attendance.

“This day was dedicated to showing the role that women can play in their society and affirming their power of creative expression,” he noted.

One of those attending the Women’s Day concert was Sahraa Karimi, an award-winning Afghan filmmaker, who said that events like this are “necessary for Afghanistan.”

“I almost cried during the concerts. This was a miracle. It means that Afghan girls and women need and want this positive energy to bring change to our society,” she said. “We do not need war anymore, we don’t need the Taliban anymore, we do not need anything that limits us. This is contributing to the development of the Afghan society.”

“Afghan women are always told not to listen, not to talk,” said another attendee, Fatima Sadat, a television producer. “They are told to be silent and this event gave schoolgirls a powerful moment to boost their self-esteem. It gave them a moment to understand themselves, to start to listening to their own voices.”

One of the music performers on Women’s Day, Ruth Owen, the lead singer of Kabul-based rock band ‘White City,’ noted that “Sound Central has always aimed to be a safe place where young people come and express themselves to exchange artistic and musical ideas – this felt especially true on Women’s Day.”

“My expectations were not low, but they weren’t high… I thought that maybe they would clap along,” Ms. Owen said. “However, when I got up on stage and started playing, I saw that they were clapping, and jumping up and down. I was so pleased because when you are a musician and artist, you are not making the music for yourself but for other people to stand up and appreciate it. I just want to show a generation of young girls that it is possible to make music and be yourself.”

Mana Haleemi, a 13-year-old student who participated in a poetry competition at the Festival was close to tears of joy afterwards, overwhelmed with emotion at the performances and energy, both from the stages and from the audience.

“I am so happy,” she said. “I want to go home and tell my parents what a wonderful day and experience this was. I want to write poems about it. I feel like I can be anything I want. I want to be the first women president of Afghanistan!”