The Indian embassy in Qatar and the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) will conduct the Indian Community Festival under the theme ‘Passage to India’ at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Park, it has been announced.
The event will be held in line with the Qatar-India 2019 Year of Culture.
Hemant Kumar Dwivedi, first secretary (Culture & Education) at the embassy, met with Salem Abdulla al-Aswad, MIA deputy director (Learning and Outreach), and Sarah Tose, head of Academic Programmes for MIA, and agreed to organise the three-day Indian Community Festival as an opening to the month-long ‘India Market’ event to commence on December 12.
The meeting was also attended by Manikantan A P (president), Seenu Pillai (general secretary) and Nirmala Shanmuga Pandian (cultural co-ordinator) of the Indian Cultural Centre.
Al-Aswad assured that this event would be the first of its kind and an opportunity to appreciate long-time Indian residents of Qatar who have contributed to the country’s growth, ICC said in a press statement. The entire event will supported by Seashore Group.
Dwivedi said the ‘Passage to India’ festival will include colourful cultural programmes from Qatar and the different states of India, replicas of monuments from Qatar and India (Al Zubara Fort, Taj Mahal, Red Fort), stalls/outlets showcasing various customs/features/materials from different states in India as well as food outlets, by licensed Indian vendors, providing various delicacies from different parts of India to visitors.
Manikantan said the ICC conducted the Indian Community Festival in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016, the latest one under the theme ‘Passage to India’.  “Previous experience has shown that up to 10,000 people visit this event each day and we expect the same this year,” he said.