Khalid Tawalbeh

Doha

With the FIFA World Cup just around the corner, the Cultural Village Foundation – Katara is decked up in artistic best as it awaits visitors from all over the globe to provide entertainment and education with a plethora of events.

Katara is sporting a colourful and vibrant look with flags of the qualified nations at FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 adorning all its streets, corners and promenade. The new installations over the hills and colourful signages and paintings only add to the charm and atmosphere of the place for more excitement for football fans.

As part of its activities, Katara is putting the final touches to the preparations for the 12th edition of the Katara Traditional Dhow Festival, which will start on November 19 and last until the 18th of next December.

The Dhow Festival will be part of the Katara events accompanying the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, where the organising committee of the festival is keen to serve as a maritime heritage plaque through which visitors from different nationalities will learn about the authenticity of Qatar’s authentic maritime heritage.

The festival highlights the customs and traditions of parents and grandparents during fishing and diving trips in search of pearls, and the importance of preserving the cultural property and folk heritage rich in noble values.

As many as 32 heritage dhows from nine countries are participating in this edition of the festival, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Yemen, India, Turkey and Tanzania.

The flags of the countries participating in the FIFA World Cup will be flying atop these sailing dhows, which will sail from Katara beach through the Doha Corniche and the beach of the Museum of Islamic Art Park to reach Doha port bysunset during the festival days.

Shafei Mohamed, a visitor to Katara, said, "I have visited more than 15 countries around the world, but I have never found this number of cultures, traditions, and murals that describe them, in one place, but in Katara.”

Mohamed praised the activities of the traditional dhows and the heritage village, which expresses the Gulf house and promotes the life of the ancestors in the past, in addition to the floating cafe, which is witnessing a huge turnout.

The festival also includes an exhibition of 50 pavilions for the participating countries to display maritime heritage holdings, crafts and handicrafts from the maritime heritage, maritime competitions and workshops for the traditional ship and bearing industries, as well as interactive events related to the process of loading and removing the dhow from the sea by traditional methods.

Abdullah Al Rashdi, a supervisor of Katara beaches, in a recent speech had said that the beach is witnessing many events aimed at the World Cup visitors and the National Day celebrations. He pointed out that the Traditional Dhow Festival is a place where visitors see the mixture of the past and present at the same place and time.

A number of artistic murals were inaugurated on the facades of buildings, in celebration of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and as part of its artistic project aimed at decorating Katara with murals and works by Qatari and international artists to promote opportunities for cultural and artistic exchange.

In this regard, Katara recently inaugurated a mural called "Without Borders” by Brazilian artist Kelvin Kubic on building 48, the mural of "Friends, Qatar and Cuba” on building 15 by Cuban artist Michel Lopez, and the mural "Birds Game” by Mexican artist Eva Bracamontes on building 16.