Katara Boats Festival Introduces Fans to Qatari Maritime Heritage

On Saturday, November 19, the activities of the 12th Katara Festival of Traditional Boats, organized by the Public Foundation for the Cultural Village (Katara), kicked off on the waterfront of Katara and will continue until December 18, with the participation of the State of Qatar, in addition to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, Iraq Yemen, India, Turkey, and Tanzania.

Dr. Khaled bin Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti, Director General of the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara), said in a statement on this occasion that the twelfth edition of this festival will be exceptional and distinctive as it coincides with the launch of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, as it will be an opportunity for visitors of different nationalities to see the richness of And the diversity of the Qatari and Gulf maritime heritage, which will contribute to extending the bridge of communication between cultures and peoples.

He added that the festival aims, through its various sections, to present various details that would enrich the visitor's information regarding life in the past in the Gulf countries in general, in addition to reviving traditional marine sports through various competitions that were inspired by the heritage of the ancestors and their dealings with the sea in order to seek a livelihood for decades.

For his part, Mr. Jihad Al-Jaida, a member of the organizing committee of the Traditional Loading Festival, said in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the most important characteristic of the twelfth edition of this festival is the period that lasts a month instead of five days or a week as it was in previous years. In addition, its activities continue until one o'clock "Am" for the first time, and competitions were avoided in this version because the organizing committee decided that culture and heritage in Qatar should reach the fans of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

On its first day, the Katara Festival of Traditional boats witnessed a large audience of different age groups and nationalities, who watched various folkloric paintings presented by a group of girls, in addition to performances by the Omani Ardha band and representational paintings inspired by the life of the people of the sea, such as bidding farewell to "a

Al Yazwah" and divers at the start of their diving journey, through songs within what is known as "Nohma" art.

The various sections of the festival extend along the entire Katara beach, as they evoke the shape of the ancient "Al Furjan" and present various traditional products related to crafts and traditional industries associated with the sea.

The festival includes 50 pavilions for the participating countries, which vary between exhibitions of marine heritage holdings and others for handicrafts and professions to introduce 43 handicrafts from the marine heritage and heritage, in addition to the marine competitions and workshops related to the manufacture of ships and traditional boats, which contain interactive paragraphs related to the process of unloading the bearing and removing it from the sea using traditional methods.