By Fran Gillespie/Doha


The weather was perfect: mild and clear and with no wind, as hundreds of expatriate families gathered in the desert on Friday afternoon to celebrate Starry Night in the Dunes.
This much-loved event has been organised annually since 1980 by the Qatar Natural History Group, joined in recent years by members of the Doha Players.
Families from many nations gather to enjoy the peaceful desert ambience, join with their friends for a BBQ feast and sing festive songs around a bonfire.
This year’s event saw a record attendance, with an estimated 1,200 people making their way to the famous singing dunes west of Al Wukair. Before long, the largest and steepest dune was covered with excited children, clambering to the top and racing down.
For the younger generations this unforgettable gathering in the desert is part of the run-up to Christmas, Doha-style.    
For the youngsters, the annual visit of Santa Claus to Starry Night is especially memorable. His reindeer safely parked out of sight behind the dune, Santa [Greg Polkowski] toured the crowd, together with his green-clad assistant Elf [Monica Polkowski], to greet the scores of happy children before retiring to his ‘Grotto’, a traditional white canvas tent hung with strings of coloured lights and decorations.
A long queue of children formed, waiting to confide in him their Christmas wishes, receive a gift and pose with Santa for a photo for the family album.
Starry Night is a very special occasion, eagerly looked forward to each December. This year it coincided with the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.
When Santa received all his young visitors, families from many nations gathered to sing Christmas carols and traditional festive songs around a huge bonfire, led by a group from the Doha Singers choir.
Hundreds of candles in sand-filled paper bags formed a ring around the bonfire area, the softly-glowing light lending a magical atmosphere.
Wood for the bonfire was provided, as it has been for some years, by Spacemaker, a division of Gulf Construction Company.
For children, the unfamiliar experience of being in the open desert at night is always exciting. Friday’s event will be recalled with pleasure by many, perhaps most of all the youngsters.
The bright moon above, the glowing candles, the blazing bonfire and the traditional songs all combined to make Starry Night an evening to remember.