Doha
The Dau events at the sixth Qatar International Falcons and Hunting Festival will conclude Tuesday at Sabkhet Marmi near Sealine, Mesaieed.
The Dau event serves to showcase the falconer's skill at training his falcon for speed. A falcon is required to cross, in the shortest time, a distance of 400m toward its owner, who is signalling to approach at the event's finish line.
Visitors from a variety of backgrounds, including citizens, residents and tourists have been attending the festival's events, which have become a landmark event for those with an interest in cultural heritage, photographers and falconry fans.
These included the French ambassador Eric Chevallier, who visited the festival with family members, friends and colleagues from the embassy.
“It is exciting to see not just the development and growth that Qatar has achieved, but to see this in balance with a respect for its culture and pride in its identity and heritage, and falconry is a good example here,” he said.
The Tala'a event, which saw its final round on Saturday, was won by Mohamed Ali Salem al Tammam al-Ghaithani, who received a Toyota Land Cruiser for winning the event. Abdulhadi Hamad Abdulhadi al-Hadwan came in second, also receiving a Land Cruiser, while Faisal Mohamed Rashed al Ali al-Ma'adhid came in third place, and received a prize of QR100,000.
The Tala'a event tested the falcon's ability to identify the location of the prey: an electronic Habari bird (or bustard) was used in place of a real bird; it resembled a real bird in terms of shape, size and colour. The Habari was placed at a distance of one km and time counted from the moment the falcon is released.
The festival, being organised by the Gannas Society under the patronage of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, runs until January 31.
