DOHA, 28 March 2005 — Arab and international entertainment shows presented in various venues of the Qatari capital daily as part of the ongoing Doha Cultural Festival are drawing huge crowds, both national and expatriate.
The annual festival, which is organized by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage (NCCAH), ends on April 1 after being opened by Qatar’s heir apparent Sheikh Tamim ibn Hamad Al-Thani on March 22.
According to NCCAH Chairman Mohamed Abdul-Raheem Kafoud the festival is being organized to provide a forum for people of different cultures to interact.
Cultural troupes from India, Morocco, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Montenegro have been presenting a variety of shows at different venues in the city every day.
Also, individual artists from various Arab Countries are taking part in the festival, now in its fourth year.
Popular Lebanese singer Majida Al-Roumi wowed hundreds of people at a concert at the weekend. Al-Roumi, termed by some of her fans as “Singer of Arab Conscience”, is taking part in the Doha Festival for the second year in a row.
Internationally-acclaimed Carmen Mota’s Spanish dance spectacular, Fuego!, is scheduled to be presented at Doha Sheraton on Thursday, the penultimate day of the festival.
“Mota’s experience of more than 50 years in professional flamenco and her phenomenal feel for theatrical build-up come together in this production as a feast for the senses,” a festival official told Arab News.
The well-known Nut Cracker opera will be staged today
A photography exhibition, featuring the works of over 30 international artists, is being held on the sidelines of the cultural festival.
A ‘Heritage Village’, set up on Doha’s Corniche, throws light on Qatari history and traditions.
It is not all entertainment, however.
For the intellectually inclined, there will be lectures by First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad ibn Jassim Al-Thani and by Jordan’s Prince Hassan ibn Talal, the chairman of Arab Intellectuals Forum, both at Doha Sheraton today.
