4500 Cultural and Heritage Activities in Darb Al Saai

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

The place is well equipped with all facilities, main services and logistics on an area of 150,000 square meters to embrace around 4500 cultural, artistic, heritage, sports and entertainment activities from 25 November to 18 December 2022.

This year, as reported by the Ministry of Culture, Darb Al Saai activities come to achieve the vision of Qatar National Day Celebrations Organizing Committee  to highlight the values of Qatar national day, and to promote loyalty and  belonging to the country, as well as to highlight the pride of Qatari identity that are reflected in the country’s  national day every year. The activities also come to commemorate of taking the rule of the country by the founder of the State Sheikh Jassem Bin Mohammed Bin Thani.

Darb Al Saai activities, this year, aim to promote the participation of all community members and the State’s visitors during Qatar national day celebrations, and to highlight the history and heritage of State of Qatar. In addition to keep up with the most important global sport event of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 that will be hosted by the country during November- December 2022.

Darb Al Saai Headquarters

The headquarters of Darb Al Saai in Umm Salal Muhammad city is featured with a high level of services and public facilities that provide comfort and safety factors for visitors and participating partners, and to enhance their experience during the activities. This can be clearly noticed by pavilions distribution of participated partners at Darb Al Saai. In addition to the design that highlights Qatari architectural heritage with modern and creative style

The new headquarters of Darb Al Saai is also featured of its easy access from three main roads, in addition to the Doha Metro through the Green Line “Old Rayyan Station”, which enhances the flow of traffic, in addition to parking space that accommodates approximately 3,500 cars. It’s connected to seven main gates and five service gates to easily enter and exit. There are also main display screens to broadcast a number of activates to Darb Al Saai audience.

Darb Al Saai also provides its visitors ,at the new headquarters this year, with variety of food menus and beverages for more than 30 restaurants and cafes distributed in Souq Waqif and Al Meez events, in addition to 80 stores in Souq Waqif event, and 9 toilets.

Activities of Darb Al Saai

The Organizing Committee for National Day Celebrations seeks to enhance the experience of visitors and guests of the State of Qatar in Darb Al Saai with a rich package of activities that highlight the Qatari culture and authentic heritage. The number of activities is about 4,500 cultural and heritage activities in more than 191 main activities, poetry evenings and concerts, in addition to a number of literary, intellectual and artistic seminars. Besides exhibitions, competitions, two museums, a number of crafts and popular games, and workshops, all of which are held during 24 days of celebration.

Cultural Activities and Darb Al Saai’s Theater.

A cultural journey awaits Darb Al Saai visitors through a rich set of cultural activities, literary and intellectual seminars, poetry evenings, concerts, literary forums, theatrical shows, exhibitions and art workshops, as well as educational and cultural activities for adults and children.

The theater is an important pillar of the cultural activities at Darb Al Saai, where literary, intellectual and cultural seminars are conducted, and theatrical shows, poetry evenings and concerts are organized.

The theater has a special importance in terms of the significant intellectual content that offers, and in terms of the distinctive architectural shape. It contains a distinctive stage with a hole of 10 meters and a depth of 12 meters. The theater is accommodated to 350 spectators within a distinctive session and comfortable viewing angles suitable for artistic and aesthetic space, which creates a unique atmosphere that motivates the audience to enjoy these celebration nights.

The theater will witness 46 cultural and artistic daily activities, including literary and intellectual seminars, poetry evenings, theatrical shows, and concerts.

Al Bidda Activity

The Al Bidda activity documents the environment of Qatar’s marine heritage in a small scale, and Al Bidda locates in the Freej Alqadim (old area) nearby the sea. It usually attracts the public due to the deep and authentic Qatari heritage of Al Bidda that reflects the feelings of familiarity and compassion that used to bring together the people of the village. in addition to popular games and cultural competitions.

Al Hosh

Al Hosh (House Backyard) expresses an authentic aspect of Qatari people life, as it’s the place where the family’s member can enjoy their time and have activities in it. For example, spending time together to enjoy   developmental and social games that build individual’s physical strength, verbal skills, thinking and strategic planning.

Al Hosh activity also provides the visitors with more than 20 entertainment activities in addition to photographing of the Qatari majlis (dining room), and the house’s furniture and equipment that serve the basic needs of taking care of the family and reflect the intimacy aspects that unite the family members.

Shooting

This activity is designed to revive an authentic sport that was practiced by parents and grandparents, due to the great role this sport plays in achieving protection for individuals and providing fishing for livelihood. With the development of this sport, it became one of the famous Olympic sports in which distinguished athletes participated in and achieved many successes.

Planting

The planting activity introduces the basics of planting in nurseries, teaches how to throw seeds, prune trees, in addition to introducing different types of local trees. It also contains a large group of interesting and useful workshops on planting, in addition to training workshops on scents and botanical arts.

Al Shaqab

Al Shaqab is an area that targets the visitors of Darb Al Saai of all age groups, and its importance lies in its diverse activities that satisfy all tastes, such as horse beauty shows, horse riding, as well as heritage shows.

Al Shaqab activity allows visitors to get to know the Qatari heritage in terms of Arabian horses breeding and their various uses in the past. It also aims to engage the women by providing them with a private place to ride horses and learn about the characteristics of Arabian horses, with respect to the Qatari traditions.

Al-Izbah

The term of al-Izbah refers to the nomadic tent that contains the sniper’s equipment needed for hunting.It contains everything related to horses, and riding tools names. It also reflects the ancient tent designed to receive male guests. In this space, activities are also provided to teach children horse riding in the correct manner.

Arts

The arts activity is keen to review the contents of the Qatar national identity through inviting the public to participate in artistic workshops in various artistic and creative fields, supporting the artistic creations of young artists and encouraging them to engage in society by participating in all international or local forums, and expressing through the language of art their own artistic vision in a contemporary manner.

The activity also aims to raise awareness of the cultural importance of artistic activity among all community individuals, and to reach the largest number of audiences of different nationalities and cultures to introduce them to the Qatari culture and its creative environment, through the topics presented in the various artistic activities. It also seeks to introduce the public to the ancient Qatari arts, in addition to the activities of the artistic centers of the Ministry of Culture.

The Parade

The Arabian horses, which are ridden by the riders in their distinctive traditional dress, lead the parade activity, including different types of Arabian horses. Old and modern classic cars will also drive in this authentic parade. Darb Al Saai visitors will watch this parade that represents Qatari heritage, as it walks through a special path in Darb Al Saai, in addition to watching the parade of old and modern classic cars.

Almuqatar

The term of Almuqatar refers to the nomadic tents, that were built in special manner in the past where no one would reveal the other, and all of them were hidden and oriented towards the south. The Bayt Alshier (Nomadic tents) that receives the guests is on the same line and on the eastern side of the tents, but it goes back about 15 meters to be known to the visitors as the Majlis (guests’ room).

This type of tent style simulates the lifestyle of the ancient badia, so that the guest can get to know to the life of the ancestors closely, and the accompanied activities, such as the environment of wild plants, birds, animals of the Qatari environment and ancient popular games.

Al Meez

Is an area consists of 26 restaurants and 23 workshops in addition to a variety of booths. This area aims to support emerging and entrepreneurial businesses, and to enhance the creativity of Qatari youth through their fruitful participation.

Flag Raising

In an atmosphere full of loyalty and belonging values to this great country, Darb Al Saai visitors gather daily in the Flag Space to witness the flag raising activity while playing the Qatari national anthem. The activity is held on a daily basis.

Souq Waqif

It is the popular market in Darb Al Saai. It contains 80 stores and 8 restaurants to sell the products of local projects to Qatari entrepreneurs. The market aims to introduce the community to the national product, support the national product, enhance competition between entrepreneurial projects, and contribute to achieving Qatar Vision 2030 in supporting entrepreneurship capabilities.

Qatar Reads

Qatar reads activity encourages children in Qatar to read through the interactive activities provided to them, including an exhibition of children’s stories that include books about the State of Qatar, National Day and FIFA World Cup. In addition to a lot of interactive activities that motivate children to read and write and develop their knowledge and own abilities.

Darb Al Saai Track

A 500-meter track has been prepared for horse competitions, horseback throwing, a Arabian horse parade, in addition to the events and tournaments held at Darb Al Saai as part of the Qatar National Day celebrations.