Summer festival closing ceremony a huge draw

The Arvind Nair writes:

CURTAINS came down last night on the 22-day Doha Summer Festival, an entertainment and shopping extravaganza, with a medley of programmes at the Doha Exhibition Centre.
If the size of the crowd was any indication of the success of the event, it was undoubtedly a huge achievement. The organisers, Qatar Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, estimated last night’s turnout at more than 300,000 by 7pm, and they were still counting.
Cars had spilled over to the vast open ground from the huge car park and were parked at least 12 rows deep, with each line having an average of 100 cars. The nearby roads were jam-packed with bumper-to-bumper vehicles as more people continued to pour in.
Chinese artistes showing their skill at balancing
The exhibition hall was swarming with people, mostly women and children. The lobby and the Heritage Village had virtually turned into a fair ground.
Inside the Heritage Village, where the closing day programmes were being held, it was almost chaotic. The programmes, capsules of the various dances and performances, were staged outside the temporary amphitheatre. It meant that there was no raised stage and the performers were at the same level as the audience.
This prevented most of those seated around the arena from really enjoying the proceedings because of the TV cameras and crews who took positions up front blocking the view of everyone else.
However, the performances were also shown on a big screen at the nearby amphitheatre affording a good view to those who had seated inside.
The performers, however, acquitted themselves creditably. Some of the acrobatics and circus performances were breathtaking. There was also a tiny bit of Umm Khamas, a hugely popular Arabic show. Then there were the stilt walkers, cartoon characters, a tall ostrich and butterflies, drummers and live statues.
Of course, the highlight was an operetta called Al-Gaffal which portrayed Qatar’s traditions and its march towards modernity.
Altogether, 300 performers had been brought to Qatar for the festival, which started on July 15.
Over the last three weeks, they were performing at such venues as the Doha Exhibition Centre, City Center, Landmark, Villagio, Hyatt Plaza, The Mall, Centrepoint and the LuLu Hypermarket. Of course, some venues hosted their own entertainers.
In addition to the entertainment and cultural shows, the festival featured Doha Trade Exhibition, in which more than 300 traders took part.
It wasn’t clear last night whether the huge crowd was attracted by the entertainment or the chance of making some bargain purchases on the last day of the exhibition.
Whatever the reason, QTEA officials were delighted by the crowd response and said they would try to make the next year’s event bigger and longer.

Source: By Arvind Nair in The Gulftimes