Consolidating its leading position as a regional sports hub, Qatar continues to witness the rise of a variety of sports in the country.

A fascinating addition to the country’s sporting scene, which has picked up pace in Qatar over the last few years, is dragon boat racing.

A one-of-a-kind team-building sport, dragon boat racing attracts hundreds of individuals in Qatar to take part in the highly-popular, annual Dragon Boat Festival.

This year’s Dragon Boat Festival was held at the scenic Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Park on January 24.

At least 26 teams took part in the different categories of the thrilling competition, displaying their best rowing skills.

While the festival aims to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle, it also does a terrific job of bringing the community together as people from different cultural backgrounds take part in the team sport.

Dragon boating is a canoe-sport and was originally a traditional festival game dating back 2000 years throughout Southern China. It has now become a popular sport with competitions held around the world.

In Qatar, the festival is organized by Qatar Dragon Boat (QDB), which was established in October 2013.

The organization has members hailing from 50 different countries and aims to encourage dragon boat racing at all levels in Qatar. QDB’s efforts have introduced thousands of people to dragon boat racing in the country.

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