(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fireworks lit up the skies above Darb Al Saai in Al Saad, the main venue of National Day celebrations, last night.
Thousands of visitors and those in the neighbourhoods watched in awe as fireworks exploded in the skies. Activities will continue until December 20, with addition of two days from last year.
Among other activities that attracted crowds was a shooting competition. Ali Al Kuwari, Head of Activities, Darb Al Saai, said the competition had drawn a lot of people of all ages for the past two days when celebrations started. This attraction is expected to continue throughout the celebrations at the venue, he added. "The competition was in four categories - regular shooting at targets; shooting at moving targets; electronic shooting; and a bow and arrow shooting."
The first phase chose the best 10 shooters among male and female. In the next phase, five shooters in each category for male and female shooters will be chosen for finals.
Al Kuwari said the finals will have 40 competitors in different categories and will be held on December 15 for male and December 16 for female shooters.
The children's play area is also a big attraction, with some 20 games in the sandy area to ensure kids' safety. Some have been prepared as simulation of heritage games.
Al Kuwari said about 1,000 children have played in the area in the past two days making it the most attractive to visitors.
The natural protected area, Al Meshabia, also drew a large number of citizens and residents. It allows visitors to look closely at flora and fauna. It also offers recreational and educational activities for children, highlighting the importance of preserving and protecting Qatar's flora and fauna and the environment.
Mohammed Al Nuaimi, Director of Communications and Chief of Staff, Hamad Medical Corporation, said HMC's activities were not limited to their booth in Darb Al Saai.
Activities at HMC in the neighbourhood will be held on December 17-18, mostly focusing on outreach health programmes.
Meanwhile, the West End Park in the Industrial Area will host thousands of expat workers and families for celebrations.
The open theatre will see festivities, entertainment shows and fun-filled activities by Indian and Sri Lankan community groups and school students on December 18.
A was held to assess arrangements. It was attended by Sinu Pillai and Naina Waug representing the Indian community and Tharik T Cassim, A Liyanage, Hafeel Zubair and Lalith Jayasekara from the Sri Lankan community.
Ideal Indian School, Sri Lankan School, Pak Shama and Scholars International School will also take part in celebrations.
The programmes will start with the national anthem at 8am by school students, followed by a parade featuring children from participating schools, who will showcase Qatari traditions in the thematic parade competition.
A Qatari song and a general song competitions will be held between schools in the morning session before the communities start cultural and entertainment shows on the stage.
Events in the morning session include an Arabic song on Qatar by Maharashtra Mandal, Hindi song by Deepak, Bengali folk dance by Bangiya Parishad, Arabic dance by Sargavedi, English song on Qatar by Tara Premanand, and fusion classical dance by Kodaca, among other performances. A Sri Lankan team will perform their traditional dance, songs on Qatar in Sinhala and English, their dance in Kandyan style, general song in English and in Sinhala and Sri Lankan song in Tamil.
The evening session will begin at 3pm and feature songs by Indian community teams in different languages and events such as classical dance, drama on Qatari tradition by Sanskriti, Kolkali by Social Forum, Arabic Dabke dance by Karnataka Sangha, folk dance by Telugu Kala Samithi and songs by Riyaz.
The Sri Lankan community teams will perform songs in different languages, classical dance, drama on Qatari hospitality in English, Kaparinya dance, drama on Qatar in Sinhala, drama on Qatar's contributions to the world, Sri Lankan songs in English, Tamil and Sinhala. There will be folkloric performances, traditional shows, and musical performances.
The venue will have prayer areas, resting areas for families, emergency medical services, and other services. Volunteers will be on duty for the smooth running of the event from 6am to 10pm.
The schools winning first, second, third and fourth places will receive QR7,000, QR5,000, QR3,000, and QR2,000, respectively.
The winner of the tug-of-war competition will receive QR2,500 and the runners-up QR1,500. Winners of the running race will receive QR1,500, QR1,000 and QR500 in three categories - companies, schools and communities, respectively.
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