DOHA
Under the patronage of His Highness the Amir of the State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the 14th Traditional Dhow Festival is set to kick off Wednesday at the Cultural Village Foundation - Katara and continues until Dec. 7, 2024.
The festival is one of the most consequential cultural events held annually in the region that commemorates the inveterate maritime heritage of the Gulf states and the world.
Katara's Director of Public Relations and Communications Department Salem Mabkhout Al Marri said this cultural demonstration will host the participation of 10 friendly and sisterly countries, namely the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Palestine, Iraq, India, Tanzania, and Iran, along with Qatar as the host.
This participation will add an international dimension to the festival, reflecting the cultural and maritime diversity of both the region and the world.
The festival will showcase a programme that abounds with outstanding activities, chiefly maritime art shows on Thursdays and Fridays, featuring a maritime opera that spotlights traditional maritime arts in the region, added Al Marri.
He highlighted that a special opera will be presented to mark the launch of the 6th Fath Al Khair cruise, thereby adding an extraordinary festive element that narrates a part of the maritime history of the region.
In addition, daily joyful and buoyant maritime art shows are awaiting the visitors, including traditional forms of Gulf music and performance, as well as the Omani marine art masterpieces to illuminate the maritime cultural diversity in the Gulf region. Strikingly, visitors will enjoy watching the natural pearl show to learn how to craft and sell it, along with the methods of opening oysters to extract pearls, reflecting the significance of this industry in the region's history.
The event will not be limited to art shows, but it will extend beyond that to include daily cultural symposia from Saturdays to Wednesdays, where participants will discuss diverse topics such as maritime heritage, diving, marine navigation, and the region's history in the maritime domain. Additionally, it will be punctuated by professional educational workshops on how to make and maintain ships, fishing equipment and a broad range of handcrafts.
The festival is a significant cultural platform to promote understanding among nations and pay tribute to the marine legacy which accounts for the core part of the Gulf identity and offers visitors the opportunity to gain experience about the showcased marine arts and skills as the hallmarks of the Gulf states and the world.