Katara International Arabian Horse Festival kicks off

The Katara International Arabian Horse Festival (KIAHF), being held under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, began on an impressive note at Katara – the Cultural Village yesterday.

KIAHF is being organised by Katara in cooperation with Qatar Equestrian Federation, Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Culture and Science.

The first edition of the festival will run until February 6 from 3pm daily with a wide international participation in one of the highest beauty contests for purebred Arabian horses, with prizes worth QR13 million.

As one of the world’s highest-ranked shows, only the finest horses will be eligible to participate in KIAHF. The event seeks to strengthen the bond between purebred Arabians and the local community. It is the first event of its kind being held by the waterfront. Access to the festival area is free.

Horses from Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, France, the US, Denmark, Italy, Poland and Germany are participating in the event.

Katara general manager and KIAHF Organising Committee chairman Prof Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti inaugurated the festival and opened a number of events and activities accompanying it.
These include art, book, photography and stamp exhibitions on Arabian horses from various creative perspectives, drawing on horse saddles, 3D games, and a carousel of horses.

Badr Mohammed Al Darwish, the festival’s director, said the activities started on Tuesday, while the competitions will start from Thursday, noting that the competitions are divided into three
categories.

Darwish added that special prizes have been introduced for the festival and include the Legend Award (senior category) for those who win the first place in the three events.

Ali bin Yousef Al Rumaihi, assistant director of the Festival, said: “The festival is highly popular with horses from the Gulf and Europe, and the number of entries have exceeded 300 heads.”