Doha, December 15 (QNA) - The activities of the Katara Traditional Bearings Festival, in its twelfth edition, will continue until Sunday, next on Katara Beach, as part of the Katara activities accompanying the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, with the participation of the State of Qatar and 8 brotherly and friendly countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, And the Sultanate of Oman, Iraq, Yemen, India, Turkey and Tanzania, to confirm these broad participations on the existence of a common cultural heritage in the marine.

The countries' participation comes to review various aspects of their maritime heritage and everything related to it in terms of literature, arts, industries and traditional crafts associated with the sea in the past.

Qatar News Agency (QNA) met with a number of representatives of the participating countries to learn about the nature of heritage and heritage in these countries and the extent of their sharing of the marine heritage in Qatar.

Mr. Safwat Al-Ghashim, Cultural Counselor at the Yemeni Embassy in Doha, said that this is the first participation of Yemen in the Katara Festival of Traditional Bearings, which coincides with the State of Qatar's hosting of the World Cup, which is a pride for all Arabs, because it presents our common culture to the world, indicating that the Yemeni pavilion presents culture. Yemeni with its different regions from Hadramout, so the "Al-Shihr" troupe presents the maritime heritage of this region, which is compatible with the Qatari heritage, so it was pearl diving, where there is a great cultural commonality between Yemen and the Gulf all the way to Basra. On the culture of the Tihama region and its relationship to the Red Sea and fishing as well, as well as presenting a collection of rare photos of the ports of Aden, Mukalla, Hodeidah and Mocha, stressing that the Al-Mahamel Festival restores the history of the ancestors and presents a clear message about our culture and history that we are the owners of a civilization that seeks peace and spreads goodness to the world.

For his part, Mr. Khalifa Al-Amiri, official of the Saudi House Pavilion, said in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA): "We are offering a wide participation this year in the festival of bearings by reviewing the Saudi folk heritage, with regard to the maritime heritage in terms of traditional crafts that were associated with shipbuilding, Where the Saudi pavilion presents 14 crafts associated with the sea, the most important of which are cloths, blacksmithing and pottery, in addition to folk arts related to the sea and presented by the Dareen Youth Band. The festival was an opportunity to introduce our maritime culture and heritage.

In turn, Mr. Ayoub Hilal Saeed, official of the Tanzanian pavilion, pointed to Tanzania's keenness to participate in this festival, given the historical relations that linked the Gulf countries in general and Tanzania, explaining that the Tanzanian pavilion presents the maritime heritage there and the associated industries and tools, so we find in the pavilion Models of traditional ships, shells and sailors' tools, and some old pictures that show Tanzania's relationship with the sea when ships were the first means of travel and trade to obtain various commodities from Asian countries, along with Tanzanian uniforms, traditional clothes, leather, and others.

Abdullah Salem, a participant from the Sultanate of Oman, said that he displays a bouquet of antiques and rare collectibles related to the sea, which are the personal supplies of sailors on their long voyages, in addition to many exhibits representing models of famous ships in the Omani maritime heritage, tools for extracting pearls, opening oysters, scales used by trolleys, and boxes. "Bashtakhtah" used to collect pearls.

It is worth noting that the Katara Festival of Traditional Bearings is one of the most important accompanying events organized by the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, as the festival has achieved great success over the past years as the most important international cultural and heritage forum that restores the maritime heritage in all its originality, arts and traditions. The twelfth edition of the Katara Festival of Traditional Bearings, with a rich program of activities and cultural events that keep pace with the international sports festival in Qatar, as it is the most prominent and important event of Katara accompanying the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and presents the country’s guests with the marine heritage in its best form until the end of the festival next Sunday. Through live events that shed light on the customs and traditions of fathers and grandfathers during fishing trips and pearl diving, and contribute to preserving the cultural stock and popular heritage rich in noble values and sacrifices, and encouraging their instilling in the hearts of generations and taking pride in them.