It’s celebration time for children

Qatar will celebrate Garangao, the traditional mid-Ramadan children’s festival today. Unique to the Gulf countries, Garangao is celebrated on the 14th night of Ramadan every year.
A number of organisations are hosting Garangao celebrations at various locations in and around Doha. The highlight of the festival is children going around the neighbourhoods wearing traditional clothes.
They sing “give us what God gives you, have a house in Makkah for your generosity” and will knock on the doors to collect sweets, money, nuts and gifts.
The Qatar Tourism Authority is celebrating Garangao at the Doha Summer Fun Park. The organising committee has announced that children will be given gifts, prizes and sweets.
Local songs will be played for the occasion. The event will be supported by many charity organisations and social centres.
The Qatar Islamic Center (Fanar), the cultural sponsor of the event, will host shows for Garangao, featuring snakes, lizards and spiders.
The Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB), Qatar’s largest Islamic financial institution, is helping to celebrate Ramadan by hosting Garangao events for children at the bank’s Al Fanar, Gharrafa, Airport and Rayyan branches.
The celebrations will run from 8am to 1pm at the four branches in addition to 8.30pm to 10pm at Al Fanar branch.
The campaign is part of QIB’s desire to engage all levels of the community during the holy month of Ramadan while spreading the spirit of joy, understanding and generosity.
The QIB is encouraging children to visit participating branches to receive their own gift boxes. The bank has prepared 15,000 boxes, and sees this event as an amazing opportunity to spread joy among the children of Qatar.
In addition to the gifts, children will find a surprise at each location, including a tent which has life-size cartoon characters and various forms of entertainment.
All of these elements are created to ensure that every child who visits QIB’s Garangao celebration have a memorable time.
Salah Jaidah, QIB’s Chief Executive Officer said: “The holy month of Ramadan is a joyous time for all, and our Garangao celebration allows QIB to spread happiness among the youngest members of the Qatari community. Our diverse partnerships and events are created to reach as many people as possible, while perpetuating QIB’s message of generosity, openness, and the importance of a vibrant local community.”
The Childhood Cultural Centre hosted a programme on Sunday evening ahead of Garangao. A large number of children enjoyed the event.