Well, if you have not been to the Qatar Marine Festival in Katara, then you have missed something that we do not get to see in Qatar that much. Qatar Marine Festival, was organized from 16th March to 26th March in Katara, courtesy of the government I believe. It was splendid, beautiful and very different. More than the 'marine' things in the festival, what I enjoyed personally were the people and the gathering. For an hour, I felt I was not in Qatar...really.
There was everything and anything, you could possible imagine. From the collection of very unique kinds of fish, to sand art, seal show, food, magic show, volleyball, dancing fountain and even some random small golf fields in between. I went on Friday, which obviously is a 'family day' in Qatar and that place was crowded. A crowd, that I do not usually see in Qatar. People from all different countries, people dressed in their own ways and children and families. It was a big sub culture right there inside the festival. Every single individual was enjoying the festival - some praising the local artists, some examining the sand art, children trying to scare fish in the aquarium, and some playing the mini-golf fields. The whole festival was a mix of culture in fact.
We had a couple of sand artists from a different region, definitely imported. There was a Russian Balle group from Russia. Most of the fishes were imported from outside the country. There were artists from Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other gulf countries. The jumping volleyball team was fun to watch and the live commentary was even more fun.
I think one of the most interesting aspects of the festival was the "dive into the past" tunnel where they had all the different kinds of fish and also they would place a fish on your hand. Here is a photo where an employee was handing over a fish to anyone who just wanted to feel that ticklish fish on their hands.
Overall, I would say, the experience for me at the festival was an experience of being in a different subculture, a different country, a very diverse crowd and overall many different new things to look forward to in Qatar. Next time if there is an unique festival like this one, you should definitely go because even if you don't enjoy the festival itself, you will definitely enjoy the increasing different crowd of Qatar.
