Katara lines up grand events to celebrate World Cup

A large number of grand activities will kick off at Katara – the Cultural Village Foundation today in celebration of the Middle East and Arab world’s first FIFA World Cup.
Katara, which is already specially lit up and decked up for the occasion, is now set to enthral visitors from all over the globe with various events and activities – covering the areas of art, dance, music, painting, folklore and the performing arts.
“The foundation will be providing an exhaustive feast of activities to visitors with events representing diverse cultures,” a press statement noted. “A total of 51 main events and 300 sub-events will see the participation of 22 countries.”
These events will continue until December 18.
These are divided into five main branches: festivals, parties, exhibitions, live performances, and various events.
There will be a series of art exhibitions opening today, including:
? The Faces of the World (related to the first FIFA World Cup)
? Solar Exhibition presented by the embassy of El Salvador
? Qatari Plastic Art Exhibition
? Katara Museum of Traditional Dhow
? Katara International Ceramics Exhibition,
? Football, and
? Fine Art and Collectibles.
There will also be the opening of World Cup postage stamp exhibition, Oud history exhibition, Iranian cultural exhibition, sports caricature exhibition, Arabic calligraphy activities, activities for children with special needs in co-operation with the Qatar Foundation for Social Work, Katara International Handicraft Market, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation event, Al Dar Cultural Tent, and Sports Engineering and Qatar World Cup with the Qatar Society of Engineers, the statement notes.
The festive programme includes a number of concerts, including that of Maher al-Zein, Hammoud al-Khidr, Thamer Ashour, Ahmed Saad, Aseel Hamim, DJ Aseel, Saud Jassim, Elissa, and Adam, as well as artistes from Argentina, Britain and other places.
The audience can enjoy a variety of shows, such as Balloons Wonderland, a musical show for sustainable development, good health for all (Education Above All), and the planetarium Pleiades shows, in addition to a traditional musical performance by Qatari musician Hamed al-Nama.
Various other activities of the Street Art Festival will also take place in and around the Cultural Village.
The opening day of Katara events ahead of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will also see 22 books about the World Cup being launched by Katara Publishing House.
Further, visitors can enjoy various other activities, including:
? Puzzle games (by the Qatar Association of Certified Public Accountants)
? Activities of the Book Centre
? Activities of the Clock Club
? Activities of the Katara Centre for Arabic Fiction
? Activities of the Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud Centre and Centre for Arabic Fiction, and
? Activities by Kahraman, Sadu Centre, Fashion Pleiades, Rababah event, Qatar Guests events, architecture and mosques events, and induction panels.
The Katara Amphitheatre will host a number of lectures by Mustafa Hosni, Omar Suleiman, Noman Ali Khan and Ahmed al-Shugairi, Shattered Legend (six speakers), gifts event on Ibn al-Rayb Street, and other events by a number of centres and associations.
Katara will also have a number of competitions, such as the plastic art, photography, and Katara Golden Talent competitions.
Meanwhile, the 12th edition of the Katara Traditional Dhow Festival will be inaugurated tomorrow, and will continue until December 18.
The festival at the Katara Beach and promenade will include 50 pavilions – including exhibitions of marine heritage collectibles and others for crafts and handicrafts.
Nine countries – Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, Yemen, India, Turkiye and Tanzania – will be featuring at this year’s dhow festival.