Katara dhow festival continues to draw crowds

The 13th Katara Traditional Dhow Festival is set to conclude Saturday at Katara – the Cultural Village beach.

The festival has witnessed a great turnout of visitors who enjoyed various activities that celebrated the marine heritage of Qatar and the other participating countries – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Bahrain, Palestine, Iran, Portugal, Oman, India, Kuwait and Tanzania.

The festival abounds with a variety of traditional handicrafts and works associated with diving and hunting as one of the core popular, maritime pillars of the Qatari and Gulf heritage in general, including the manufacturing of traditional boats, decoration on gypsum, palm frond and wickerwork, fishing nets and pottery.

A handful of craftsmen and workers from the Qatari and Gulf heritage emphasized the importance of this event in shedding light on the traditional handcrafts and heritage profession. They highlighted their utility, aesthetics and environmental human-friendliness, pointing out that these handcrafts are closely connected with arts through decoration and using colours and lines to showcase manufactured tools that best suit daily use.

The craft is similar to wood carving, as the craftsmen use tools to carve and smooth the wood in a manner that requires precision and skill in building these bearings, said maker of traditional boat and ship models, Muhammad Ali Ansari.

He added that the models being showcased represent all types of the traditional dhow, including those dedicated to diving to obtain pearls, travel, transportation of merchandise and fishing, indicating that such a craft is one of the authentic Qatari and Gulf heritages. People are so keen to purchase it because it is largely eco-friendly.

There were daily traditional rowing competitions with the participation of various teams.

The festival saw the participation of more than 120 exhibitors, craft persons, and artists from Qatar and other participating countries.