National Day gala to light up Corniche

Qatar National Day on December 18 will be celebrated with a host of activities. According to the State National Day Celebrations Organising Committee, the celebrations will continue up to 2am on Saturday, December 19, with the Doha Corniche as the focal point.
The national anthem will signal the start of the traditional grand parade along the Corniche at 2.45pm.
After a recitation from the Holy Qur’an, 24 dhows will sail into Corniche Bay, accompanied by traditional Qatari sea songs. This will be followed by the national parade.

Roads are adorned with the national flag ahead of the celebrations At 4pm, classic cars will go on display on the Corniche.
“Children and young people will not miss out on the celebrations. At 4pm Sheraton Park welcomes young children of all nationalities to take part in a celebration of traditional children’s games,” an official said.

Also starting at 4pm, the best 10 entries in the National Day Schools Painting Competition will be projected onto Corniche buildings. The winner will be announced at 7pm.

Leading light projectionists Illumination Unlimited will beam a 500,000-watt light show for thousands of people lining the Corniche starting at 4pm.
“The thrilling culmination to National Day 2009 is a spectacular fireworks display. The pre-fireworks entertainment featuring national songs starts at 7.30pm, before Australian fireworks company Howard & Sons set light to a dazzling 17-minute pyrotechnic climax to the National Day at 8pm,” the official said.
Meanwhile, from today until December 17, the desert sands of Rawda Umm Rouman (Al Rayyan) will be transformed into a Darb-a-Saai Camp.
Darb-a-Saai activities include camel competitions and camel training in a 10,000sq m arena, Arabic poetry with 30 readers bringing Qatar’s history of poetry to life (December 17), a National Day photo exhibition, and stands selling handicrafts and traditional food and coffee.

Emphasising the important position Arabian horse racing holds in Qatari society, Darb-a-Saai Camp will also stage the National Day Masseela Horse Race on December 16.

A cultural symposium on ‘Modernisation and Preservation of Tradition’ will be held on December 15 and 16 at the Sheraton Doha.

l Qatar University (QU) is planning a grand celebration to mark Qatar National Day with a first ever parade at the institution’s stadium.

The parade on December 16 is being organised by QU Student Activities Department with the help of over 500 student volunteers.

Qatar’s history from the Ottoman presence and the vision of its various rulers to the era of Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani is to be depicted.
The parade will trace the stages of Qatar’s progress such as oil exploration and education development leading towards Qatar Vision 2030.

It will also highlight Qatar’s hosting the Asian Games 2006 and its current World Cup Bid 2022.
The parade volunteers are divided into six groups, each representing a significant historical period in the development of Qatar.

At a recent induction day for volunteers, festival supervisor of the Student Activities Department, Aljazzi Fetais al-Marri introduced the committees.
They are: Team leaders - Jassim al-Naama and Fatma Mohamed; organising committee – Faisal al-Marri and Emaan al-Mulla; events committee – Habis al-Huwail and Buthaina Aljanahi; and marketing committee – Fatma al-Emadi and Sultan al-Omari.

QU’s Student Affairs vice president Dr Omar al-Ansari told the volunteers that the festival was a significant contribution to the day of unity, loyalty and pride.
“It consolidates and shows your profound sense of belonging to Qatar,” he added.

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