Qatar- Fifth Traditional Dhow Festival opens tomorrow

11/15/2015 9:50:26 PM

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti (third left) General Manager Katara with other officials at the press conference at Katara beach yesterday.

DOHA: Over 100 dhows from the GCC will anchor at Katara beach for the fifth Traditional Dhow Festival which opens tomorrow.

A total of 110 traditional dhows have registered so far and the number of people participating from Qatar and other Gulf states is expected to reach 300 according to organisers.

Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti General Manager Katara told a press conference yesterday that the festival resulted from the success of previous editions that saw significant turnout of visitors.

This year’s festival theme ‘The time we made our living from seafaring’ is taken from Qatari poet Ibrahim bin Mohammed Al Khulaifi’s poem in which he describes the hard life of pearl divers.

Dr Al Sulaiti stressed that maritime heritage is an integral part of tradition of Qatar and other GCC countries.

He also stressed that what makes the edition special is the arrival of Fath Al Kheir 2 dhow and interactive activities for the public.

After its 44-day journey to India Fath Al Kheir 2 with 30 sailors on board will be back to Katara at the opening of the festival.

This year’s festival will include a traditional village; handicrafts; cultural shows and traditional maritime competitions such as dhow race pearl diving fishing and rowing among others.

The pearl diving contest which will start on Thursday and conclude on Saturday will see teams from Saudi Arabia’s Fursan and Eastern Province Oman’s Sur and Lushkhra Kuwait Bahrain and Qatar compete for the top prize.

The traditional village will house stalls for items related to maritime heritage and craftsmen from GCC states will demonstrate traditional maritime profession.

For the first time the festival will have a gold and pearls market where visitors can buy traditionally-crafted jewellery.

There will also be performers from Qatar Oman and Saudi Arabia who will entertain the public with folkloric songs.

Two dhows will be allotted to take schoolchildren in 20-minute cruises as well as activities and workshops to introduce maritime professions to them.

There will be a small fish market and a kitchen where traditional seafood dishes will be prepared from freshly-caught fish and served to visitors.

Fine art and photography competitions with cash prizes will also be organised.

The Peninsula

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