A five-day Anasheed (religious songs) Festival is scheduled at the Katara Cultural Village for this week. Katara has welcomed the artists ahead of the opening of the festival.World-famous performer Maher Zain officially launched the festival yesterday morning with a performance of songs from his album “Thank you Allah” in Arabic, English, Urdu and Turkish.The festival continued last night with a performance by Macedonian vocalist Mesut Kurtis, who performed music from his album “Beloved,” hailed as one of the most important albums of religious music.The show was followed by an exclusive duet with Zain who joined Kurtis in a unique fusion. Performances by eight renowned artists including Mishari al-Afasy, Ahmed Bu-Khater, Sameer al-Bashiri, Osama al-Safy, Humoud al-Khuder and Ameen Hameem are scheduled for the festival.Dr Emad Sultan, director of cultural affairs at Katara, said yesterday: “We are very pleased the we were able to bring together some of the most influential singers in the world to perform in Qatar for this unique festival. It highlights the traditions of Arab and Islamic countries, uniting cultures from across the world. The event reflects precisely Katara’s mission in Qatar: to educate and entertain whilst building cultural bridges.”Popular children’s performer Toyor al-Janah will perform a variety of children’s anasheed in a matinee show at 4:30pm on Tuesday at Drama Theatre, Building 16. Al-Afasy will recite the Qur’an and various religious songs at 8:30pm on the same night.The festival continues until Wednesday with concerts every day from 8:30pm at the Opera House in Building 16, Katara. Tickets are available at Virgin Megastores and
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